NCT02147743

Preventing Adolescents From Entering the Juvenile Justice System

Preventing Adolescents From Entering the Juvenile Justice System: Testing An Empirically-Supported, Family-Based Diversion Model

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 120 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Miami · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 12 Years – 17 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This randomized controlled study tests an innovative juvenile diversion model that integrates evidence-based family therapy.Immediate and longer term effects of the family intervention will be compared to Services As Usual with 120 adolescents participating in Miami-Dade's Civil Citation Program.

Detailed description

This study proposes to rigorously test the innovative Civil Citation Program (CCP)with an integrated evidence-based family intervention, Multidimensional Family Therapy\[MDFT\](Liddle, 2002). The study sample includes youth referred to the CCP throughout Miami-Dade county and who according to CCP screening are rated as high risk for re-offending. Youth are 12-17 years old with a first or second misdemeanor charge (excluding any gang, violence, or sex crimes charge). Nearly all (97%) of these youth are ethnic minorities (Hispanic and African American). They are at risk for school failure, substance use, and chronic delinquency due to drug availability in their communities, poor family functioning, peer drug use/delinquency, and school failure / disengagement. 120 youth who enter the Civil Citation Program and are eligible for the study will be assigned to one of the two interventions: CCP+SAU or the experimental intervention, CCP+MDFT. The study asks a classical services research question(Compton et al, 2005) - does the addition of a family therapy intervention, multidimensional family therapy, into an existing diversion program significantly enhance the program outcomes in key outcome domains: recidivism, substance use, delinquency, school and family functioning.

Conditions

• Substance Use
• Delinquency

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	CCP+MDFT	Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT; Liddle, 2002) is one of a new generation of multi-systems oriented family-based intervention for adolescent substance abuse and delinquency. It has demonstrated considerable success with juvenile justice youth at various stages of their involvement in the justice system. The model has demonstrated efficacy in reducing substance use and delinquency, increasing the prosocial behaviors (e.g., family functioning, school outcomes) of substance abusing and court involved adolescents.
BEHAVIORAL	CCP+SAU	Services As Usual community partners will provide individualized mental health counseling and psychiatric services, psychoeducational groups and substance abuse counseling.

Timeline

• Start date: 2009-05-01
• Primary completion: 2013-01-01
• Completion: 2014-01-01
• First posted: 2014-05-28
• Last updated: 2014-05-28

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States