Preventing and Reducing Delinquency to Support Academic Performance among Fifth Ward Youth through the Center for Urban Transformation (CUT) Juvenile Justice Diversion (JJD) Program in the Houston Independent School District (HISD), 2020-2021. Research Educational Program Report

Houston Independent School District. Research & Accountability, 4400 West 18th Street 2 NW, Houston, TX 77092. Tel: 713-556-6700; Fax: 713-556-6730; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.houstonisd.org/research

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Delinquency; Prevention; Academic Achievement; Juvenile Justice; Attendance; Program Effectiveness; Suspension; Correlation; Referral; Family Needs; Prosocial Behavior; Behavior Change; Student Behavior; At Risk Persons; Community Programs; Urban Areas; Caseworker Approach; Middle School Students; High School Students; Agency Cooperation; Food; Resources; Family Programs; Family Involvement; Student Promotion; Student Characteristics

The CUT Juvenile Justice Diversion Program serves youth at risk of involvement in the criminal justice system. Targeted students are enrolled at five HISD secondary campuses in Fifth Ward, Texas. During the 2019--2020 academic year, the first year of the program, 60 students and their families were engaged in community support services guided by needs assessments. Fifty-nine students were provided some case management (98.3%); 43 were distributed resources, such as food, rental assistance, and technology (71.7%); 40 were referred to other organizations for services (66.7%); 32 received a gift card to ease the impact of COVID (53.3%), and at least 6 attending one school received tutoring (about 10%). Paired t-test analyses, using a pre-post design, revealed an increase in the mean attendance rate for program students by 4.8 percentage points, a decrease relative to in-school suspensions by 3.1 days, and a decrease in out-of-school suspensions by nearly one day. Changes in attendance and in-school suspension rates were statistically significant. Difference-in-Differences analyses revealed that if non-program students in the targeted schools had participated in the program, their attendance rate would have increased by 3.6 percentage points. Among 34 middle-school program students, 100% were promoted to the next grade by summer 2020, while 75% of 20 high-school students were promoted by the end of the school year. Higher attendance rates were positively correlated with referrals to organizations for services, successful case management contacts, and families receiving resources. Students perceived higher rates of prosocial behavior after compared to before the program, suggesting that prosocial habits can be developed within a relatively brief time span. Program benefits were highly emphasized by student and parent participants. Arrests associated with McReynolds MS dropped substantially, by 4.0 percentage points, over the past two years. Integrating follow-up services as a program component would allow youth more time to transfer skills acquired in the program and build positive family and peer relationships within the community.

As Provided

2021

ED614637