The Impact of an Alternative to Detention Program on Developmental Assets for Adolescents Involved in the Juvenile Justice or Legal System

Abstract

Positive youth development (PYD) models can play a critical role in programming for at-risk youth involved with the Juvenile Justice System (JJS) or legal system. This article reports on the outcomes of a study that examined the impact of the Reinvesting in Youth (RIY) program on increasing developmental assets for youth who are at-risk for detention or higher level of care placements. RIY is a three to six month preventive and ATD program within a large non-profit behavioral healthcare organization that provides case management, community asset navigation, and academic support through an asset-building framework. Fifty-nine youth discharged from RIY were included in the study. The impact of the program was measured using the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP). Using a dependent samples t-test, results indicate that the RIY program has a significant and positive impact on increasing assets from admission to discharge on total asset scores, internal and external assets, and seven of the eight asset categories.