Juveniles whose offenses are serious or who fail to respond to intermediate sanctions are handled at a different level of the juvenile justice continuum. These youth may be committed to out-of-home placement in an institutional or camp-like setting, or they may be eligible for an alternative placement, such as community confinement. In 1999, nearly one in four adjudicated delinquency cases resulted in out-of-home placement. Placement cases grew 24% from 124,900 in 1990 to 155,200 in 1999. The largest percentage increase was in the number of drug offense cases resulting in placement, which grew 73% from 1990 to 1999. Placement grew 56% for public order offense cases and 48% for person offense cases, but declined 6% for property offense cases (Puzzanchera, 2003). Residential placement facilities for youth should offer comprehensive treatment programs for these youth with a focus on education, skills development, and vocational or employment training and experience (Howell, 1998). Procedures through which facilities meet these objectives generally follow a shared criteria, but often vary in structural as well as program components.

Lipsey, et al (2000), performed a meta analysis of research on programs for both institutionalized and non institutionalized serious juvenile offenders conducted in the United States by psychologists, criminologists, or sociologists, and that were published after 1970. Two program types showing relatively large, statistically significant mean effects on recidivism for institutionalized offenders across all estimation procedures were interpersonal skills programs, and teaching family home programs. Behavioral programs, community residential programs, and multiple service programs also showed positive effects, however the results were less consistent. Mixed (but generally positive) recidivism effects were shown for individual counseling, guided group counseling, and group counseling. Employment programs, drug abstinence programs, and wilderness/challenge programs showed weak or no effects, although evidence was inconsistent. Finally, Milieu therapy (highly structured therapeutic communities) consistently showed weak or no effects on recidivism.

Unfortunately, publications on individual programs reported in this effort date back at least 15 years or more. While information on process and outcome evaluation are becoming more readily accessible, very little substantial literature exists on programs evaluated for effectiveness within the last decade. The programs considered in this section include programs from all residential settings, including secure and non-secure residential facilities, institutions, training schools, hospitals, group homes, shelters, foster care, treatment facilities, camps/wilderness programs, among others. This section does not include system-wide approaches or process or evaluations of systems or individual facilities. These practices are described below:

Correctional Facility: Any public or private residential facility with construction fixtures or staffing models designed to physically restrict the movements and activities of juveniles or other individuals that is used for the placement, after adjudication and disposition, of any juvenile who has been adjudicated as having committed an offense, or of any other individual convicted of a criminal offense.

Group Home: A group home is a residential placement for juveniles that operates in a homelike setting in which a number of unrelated children live for varying time periods. Group homes may have one set of house parents or may have a rotating staff. Some therapeutic or treatment group homes have specially-trained staff to assist children with emotional and behavioral difficulties.

Shelter Care: Shelter care provides temporary residential care to youth who are in need of short-term (1 to 30 days) placement outside the home. Shelter care facilities are generally nonsecure or staff secure.

Teaching Family Home: A teaching family home is a long-term, residential facility for troubled youth, featuring a family teaching team in a family style living environment. The family teaching team generally consists of a married couple who provide intervention strategies to create daily opportunities for the teaching, learning, and a wide variety of other skills.

Therapeutic Community: A therapeutic community (TC) is a drug-free residential program that provides a highly structured prosocial environment for the treatment of drug abuse and addiction. It differs from other treatment approaches principally by its use of the community as the key agent of change, in which treatment staff and recovering clientele interact in both structured and unstructured ways to influence attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors associated with drug use. In addition, TC uses a staged, hierarchical model in which treatment stages are related to increased levels of individual and social responsibility.

Wilderness Camp: A wilderness camp or challenge program are generally residential placements that provide participants with a series of physically challenging activities, such as backpacking or rock climbing in an outdoor setting. These programs varying widely in terms of settings, types of activities and therapeutic goals, but their treatment components are grounded in experiential learning which advocates “learning by doing” and facilitates opportunities for personal growth.

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