From advocacy to outcomes: A randomized controlled trial of CASA in juvenile justice

Abstract

Adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system often experience poor outcomes. Such outcomes include high rates of recidivism and academic difficulties. The current study focused on the effectiveness of mentors and advocates in juvenile justice. Specifically, a diverse group of adolescents on probation was randomly assigned to a control (services as usual) or experimental group (services as usual plus the services of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)). The outcomes of primary interest were recidivism within 18 months and changes in self-efficacy. The findings indicate that assignment to the CASA program significantly decreased the probability of recidivism and significantly increased perceptions of academic self-efficacy. No differences were observed in emotional or social self-efficacy.