Restoring Youth Offenders to the Community

When a West Des Moines student between the ages of 11 and 18 commits a crime in West Des Moines, police officers may refer them to the City's Youth Justice Initiative (YJI) program instead of to the formal juvenile court system. Cases are accepted by YJI based on the seriousness of the crime, risk factors, willingness of the youth to admit wrongdoing, and the commitment of the youth's family to help implement all of the program's recommendations for the youth.

YJI bases its approach on the principles of restorative justice. The program focuses on accountability, education, and support for the youth offender and their family, which is achieved partially through ongoing community justice conferences--called "circles"--with the offender, family members, the victim, and other community stakeholders. It is important that the victims of the crime have a voice in the process and participate in the circles. Without this group's involvement, youth offenders are likely to continue to commit crimes or experience increased substance abuse, mental health issues, academic failure, family issues, risk-taking, and gang involvement. An article in the 1998 Journal of Quantitative Criminology estimates that the monetary value of saving a high-risk youth is between $1.7 to $2.3 million.

From July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008, the West Des Moines YJI program provided services for cases involving 70 youth. Nine additional youth received partial services. By the end of that fiscal year, 40 of the full service cases had closed and 30 were continuing. The breakdown of charges included:

31 Drug/Alcohol charges;
26 Theft charges;
10 Fire-related charges;
2 Burglary charges; and
1 miscellaneous criminal charge.

YJI continues to meet its goals for youth in the community. Over that same time period, 95% of juvenile offenders completed their reparation plans, including restitution and community service where appropriate. 5% of youth finished YJI unsuccessfully. 98% of youth who completed the program reported an understanding of the injuries caused by their offending. Altogether, the youth performed over 1,254 hours of community service. 87% of offenders did not re-offend during their YJI program. As of November 2008, 94% of the youth that had completed the program had not re-offended.

High risk youth in the program also showed improved risk factors. 64% of youth with high academic risk significantly improved performance based on school reports. 100% of youth with substance abuse problems maintained six consecutive months of abstinence prior to finishing the program (56% of YJI youth have significant substance abuse issues). Families also site that the Family class they take as part of YJI improves their communication and leads to positive family functioning.

You can read overall results from the last seven years of YJI on the City's website. This program is a unique and effective effort to bring our youth offenders together with their families, their victims, and other community stakeholders in order to prevent future crimes and involvement with the criminal justice system. As an attempt to help our youth offenders become functioning and contributing parts of our community, it is an overwhelming success.