Program Profile: Impact of the Wraparound Program for Dually Involved Youth (Florida) on Youth Arrests

Study Title: Randomized Control Trial Findings of a Wraparound Program for Dually Involved Youth (which is associated with outcomes Arrests, Felony offenses, Disruptions per month in care, and Running away)

Research Design

Schurer Coldiron and colleagues (2019) conducted a randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of a Wraparound Program on youth arrests. The evaluation period was 20 months and took place in a large urban county in southeastern Florida. The evaluation compared arrest outcomes of youths in foster care and involved in the juvenile justice system receiving Wraparound Program services with youths in foster care and involved in the juvenile justice system receiving community treatment as usual. Eligibility criteria included 14- to 19-year-old youths, who were involved in both the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Department of Juvenile Justice services but not residing in a Department of Juvenile Justice facility, and living within the Florida county. 

Youths in the Wraparound Program received treatment as usual with the addition of a Wraparound care coordinator. The Wraparound care coordination being evaluated supplemented this preexisting mix of services received by all study youth before and during the study period. Treatment as usual consisted of a combination of Department of Children and Families child-welfare services and Department of Juvenile Justice probation. Child welfare–related services including near-monthly contact, either in person or by phone, from a child advocate; an assigned guardian ad litem, if needed; an assigned aftercare specialist; and life skills coaching and/or transition services. Probation services typically were mandated for 1 year and included routine contact with a probation officer, monitoring and/or restricting of the given youth’s behavior, and requirements to attend treatment services. Noncompliance of the requirements would result in youth referrals to secure detention for up to a month. About half of all the study-involved youths received juvenile probation services from the local Probation and Community Intervention office during the evaluation period. About two thirds of all study-involved youths were held in secure detention for noncompliance or reoffending during the intervention follow-up period. 

Sample

The final sample included 24 youth participants of the Wraparound Program and 23 youths receiving community treatment as usual. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups at baseline. Youths participating in the Wraparound Program were an average age of 15.9 years; consisted of 62.5 percent males and 37.5 percent females; consisted of 58.3 percent Blacks, 29.2 percent whites, and 12.5 percent Hispanics; had an average of 2.5 placements since first entering Department of Children and Families care; and had an average of 3.5 arrests before 2015. Youths receiving treatment as usual averaged age 16; were 69.6 percent male and 30.4 percent female; consisted of 58.3 percent Blacks, 21.7 percent whites, and 8.7 percent Hispanics; had an average of 2.3 placements since first entering Department of Children and Families care; and had an average of 2.8 arrests before 2015. 

Outcome Measures

Youth outcome measures of interest included youth arrests, misdemeanor offenses, felony offenses, , disruptions in care, and running away. Youth arrests was a combined measure of youth arrested (yes/no) and arrests per youth. Offense types were measured as the number of misdemeanors or felonies per youth. Disruptions in care was measured as the number of days youth experienced placement disruptions (a removal, step up, or lateral move) while in care.   Running away was a combined measure of months in care and percent of days on runaway. The juvenile justice outcomes measuring youth arrests, misdemeanor and felony offenses, running away and placement disruptions per month in care were the only outcomes eligible for the CrimeSolutions review of this study because the remaining analyses of outcomes were based on a subset of individuals.

Data Collection/Statistical Analysis

Change in youth arrests was examined by evaluating change from 20 months before and 20 months after the index date of January 2015. Florida Department of Juvenile Justice provided de-identified offense, arrest, and juvenile justice services records for all youths from October 2005 through August 2016. 

Analyses were performed in Statistical Package for Social Services (SPSS) and included chi-square, paired-samples t-tests, and survival analyses. Because of the small sample sizes—and subsequent lack of power to detect small to medium-sized effects—effect sizes (odds ratios or Cohen’s d) were also calculated for each comparison, including point-in-time differences between groups and changes over time. The study did not conduct subgroup analyses.

Citation: Schurer Coldiron, Jennifer, Spencer W. Hensley, Ryan M. Parigoris, and Eric J. Bruns. 2019. ?Randomized Control Trial Findings of a Wraparound Program for Dually Involved Youth.? Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 27(4):195?208.