Evolution Of Recidivism

1480 Words6 Pages
We have discussed one obvious reason for evolution, the cost, but in my opinion, the more important reason is the outcomes. A primary goal for the Juvenile Justice system is to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. According to the National Institute of Justice, Recidivism is defined as “a person's relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime”. This is the primary reason for the shift in our state. The goal is positive outcomes, and the rationale is that programs with the best outcomes, will receive the most kids. Outcomes are typically measured in two different formats, proximal and distal. Proximal are the outcomes that are more short term, and the distal outcomes…show more content…
The direct effects are the day to day operations of our system. I spend a majority of my days meeting with our stakeholders, presenting our program, and discussing potential ways to improve. I have to be extremely careful how I approach everything. I can no longer even make a gesture to purchase a county employee a cup of coffee, or offer them a company pen with our logo, because that may be perceived as some type of exchange for goods and services. Now, I was never one to offer any types of good, with the anticipation of referrals, I just feel like there is an added level of concern with day to day operations. The indirect effect would directly coincide with the societal views of Juvenile…show more content…
In Pennsylvania, there is currently a budget impasse, in which the governor will not sign the state budget, which is preventing the counties from receiving millions of dollars in allocated funds from the state. In turn, this affects many different programs, such as my company. To provide some sort of context, my company pays out approximately 1 million dollars a month in payroll alone. This impasse has caused multiple companies, including some of our competitors to go out of business, which is putting many people out of business, and certainly putting a strain on our company as a whole. I believe this has caused an added level of stress to our already overworked staff. I want to continue to work to create an environment for my staff to work in that will be conducive to both their personal goals, and the goals of the families we service. It is my hope that there will be skills that I can attain and help throughout this program that will allow me to service the families, counties, and staff I work with on a daily
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