Understanding Nuances of Residential Programs for Adjudicated Youth: A Mixed Methods Study

Background: Placement in a residential facility continues to be the most severe sanction for adjudicated youth. In 2014, over 75,00 adjudicated youth were ordered to residential placements nationwide. Residential placements have varying environments, treatments, and populations, presenting challenges in identifying best practices and effectiveness. Studies of residential treatment have shown different outcomes based on age, type offense, and race/ethnicity. The standard outcome measure in juvenile justice has traditionally been recidivism, however, policymakers have recently recommended examining other aspects of residential program order to better understand what parts of programs best serve diverse youth.

The current study takes place at a residential program for adjudicated males ages 13-18. The study uses an additional coverage QUANT+qual design to investigate how aspects of a residential program contribute to a planned or unplanned transition out of the program. This study seeks to contribute to the field of juvenile justice and residential programs with the research question: What factors contribute to a youth’s time in a residential program leading up to transition?

Methods: The quantitative component of this study used an event history analysis to examine program records of a small residential program over a 22-month period (n=101). The event of interest in this study was an unplanned transition from the program. Data used for this study included daily attendance records of engagement and length of time spend in group, individual, and family therapies. Additional data included age, race/ethnicity, probation/parole status, juvenile sex offender status, and number of home visits. Kaplan-Meier estimates were used to observe survival curves and model selection. Based on these findings, Cox regression models were used based on their ability to incorporate time-varying variables.

The qualitative component of this study included a follow-up focus group with residential employees to gather perspectives on the findings from the quantitative analysis and gather additional input about contributing factors towards youths’ transition out of the program. Participants included directors, therapists, and youth workers. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results: Quantitative findings indicated that demographics played a role in the likelihood to a planned or unplanned transition from the residential program.  Youth with more home visits, higher levels of engagement in family therapy, and higher levels of engagement in individual therapy were also found to be significant.  The focus group findings were able to elaborate upon the quantitative findings, as employees were able to give further insight into the role that the milieu, youth history, and the program’s theoretical framework plays a role in a youth’s time in treatment.

Implications: This study has important practice implications for social workers working with residential programs and juvenile justice populations. The findings help contribute to literature on nuances of residential programs and which aspects of the program may best serve different types of youth. This study also has implications for research methods in using secondary data from program records and time-to-event analysis. This study also has implications for mixed-methods research in social work, residential treatment, and juvenile justice.