Publications

Juvenile Justice System Risk Level and Response Risk in the Juvenile Justice System is defined as the risk to reoffend — or the risk of repeating similar or more serious behavior. When youth are brought to Juvenile Court or Juvenile Justice and Youth Services (JJYS), they are assessed using a validated risk (or risk/need) assessment (PSRA or PRA). Other youth-serving

Policy zones identify neighborhoods with the greatest opportunity for impact on youth outcomes. We analyzed all 751 Utah neighborhoods and identified the top 100 where strategic investment will help the most young people. These are opportunity neighborhoods – places where coordinated support can significantly improve outcomes for youth, their families, and the communities they live in. 🏘️ See which neighborhoods

Summary: Improving outcomes for individuals under correctional supervision is a core focus for criminal justice researchers and professionals. Here we analyze a cohort of over 500 females on parole in Utah between 2013 and 2017, using time-to-event analysis. We find that risk factors for females on parole are different when the outcome variable denotes a technical violation versus a new

Introduction & Background: The use of actuarial risk and needs screenings and assessments is becoming standard practice in the criminal justice setting. As part of broader criminal justice reform efforts, in 2015, Utah implemented a statewide risk and needs process that uses the LSI-R:SV to screen for an individual’s risk-to-reoffend when booked in any of its county jails. The LSI-R:SV

Summary: Understanding factors behind sustained criminal justice involvement is a primary focus of criminal justice research and professionals. Here we examine the relationship between offense type and new criminal convictions for offenders on parole in Utah. By analyzing 3,173 parolees released from Utah’s state prison in 2013 and 2016, we find that offenders convicted of a sex-offense have a reduced

Phase II Study Description Individuals with mental health disorders are highly overrepresented within the United States correctional facilities (Prins, 2014). Since the Community Mental Health Act was passed in the 1960s, long-term, residential state hospitals for mental health treatment were shut down across the nation. These state hospitals were viewed as warehouses for individuals with mental illness, and frequently had

Summary: In the state of Utah, a revocation to prison from parole can occur in two instances: (1) if the offender failed to comply with their supervision conditions, and (2) if the offender was convicted of a new crime while on parole. It should be emphasized that changes in revocation rates over time may reflect changes in offender behavior rather

Summary: In 2013, The Utah Sentencing Commission appointed a committee to research and develop an incentive matrix for Utah probationers and parolees. Members participating in this committee included representatives of the Utah Sentencing Commission, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ), Utah Department of Corrections (UDC), specifically the Adult Probation and Parole (APP) division,