An Evaluation of JUST Court in Yuma County, AZ

Substance Abuse Clinical Trial

— JUST  

Official title:

An Evaluation of JUST (Juveniles Under Supervision and Treatment) Court in Yuma County, AZ

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02449057
• Other study ID #: SPP1014F01
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: February 10, 2015
• Last updated: April 6, 2018
• Start date: March 2014
• Est. completion date: June 2016

Study information

• Verified date: April 2018
• Source: Pepperdine University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Arizona has created a pilot program for juvenile probationers called Juveniles under Supervision and Treatment (JUST), which includes swift and certain, but modest responses, to technical violations of the terms of juvenile probation. JUST targets high- and medium-risk juvenile probationers and its stated objective is to reduce violations and overall incarceration of youth in the program. The JUST pilot is being implemented under the authority of the Arizona Governor's Office for Children, Youth and Families (GOCYF) and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

Description:

Arizona's Juveniles Under Supervision and Treatment (JUST) Court is a pilot project initiated by the Arizona Governor's office. It is designed to test whether the principles of Swift, Certain, and Fair (SCF) Supervision—clear rules, close monitoring, and swift and certain, but modest, penalties for each violation can succeed when applied to juveniles under community supervision. The Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts piloted JUST in two counties: Yavapai and Yuma. The Yuma program was launched in March 2011. The goal of JUST is to (a) reduce the violation rate so as to reduce the number of petitions filed to revoke probation (the purpose is to reduce the use of juvenile detention), and (b) reduce recidivism overall. All juveniles in Yavapai are supervised under JUST (evaluation using an RCT is therefore unfeasible). JUST in Yuma is now being scaled up, which affords the opportunity for an RCT. The goal of the RCT is to compare the performance of youth supervised under JUST with those supervised under probation-as-usual.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 150
• Est. completion date: June 2016
• Est. primary completion date: June 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 13 Years to 17 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Newly probated

• At least 13 years old

• No older than 17 years and 3 months

• At least nine months remaining on supervision

• Must be on standard probation with a supervision level of moderate to maximum

• Must be able to participate in the program for at least nine months

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not meeting all inclusion criteria

• Sex offender

• Dangerous offenses

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Adolescent Behavior
• Juvenile Delinquency Unspecified
• Substance Abuse
• Substance-Related Disorders

Intervention

Other:
• JUST
Swift, certain, and proportionate sanctions for violations of terms of community supervision.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Yuma County Juvenile Justice Center	Yuma	Arizona

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Pepperdine University	University of California, Los Angeles

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Number of days served in detention	Number of days served in detention	followup at 6 months
Primary	Recidivism	Number of new arrests (overall, and by type)	followup at 6 months
Secondary	Truancy	Number of days truant	followup at 6 months
Secondary	Failure to appear	Number of no-shows for probation appointments	followup at 6 months
Secondary	Other technical violations	Number of other technical violations	followup at 6 months
Secondary	Substance use	Results of urinalysis screens from routine testing and research-based testing	followup at 6 months
Secondary	New dispositions	Number of new dispositions, by (type)	followup at 6 months