Smashing a mailbox with a baseball bat is a crime many criminal justice officials might overlook. But in Pennsylvania, some Lehigh County officials think it could be the start of something more.

By paying closer attention to juvenile offenses – and helping youths to see the way their crimes hurt the communities they reside in – officials are starting to see a change in juvenile recidivism rates.

Thanks to a focus on balanced and restorative justice and Multi-Systemic Therapy, Lehigh County saw an 87% success rate for young offenders who completed probation in 2005 without committing a new offense.

Andrew DeAngelo, Deputy Chief Juvenile Probation Officer for the Lehigh County Juvenile Probation Department, says the reduction in recidivism rates came once officials realized something key about juveniles.

“The kids we work with in juvenile probation now have needs that are more complex than years ago,” says DeAngelo. “We've recognized that the environments kids live in – their family issues, problems at school, the influences of their neighborhoods, the affects of drugs and alcohol – all leads to a need for more help from the community. Creating partnerships in the community can really help young people to get their lives in order. That's one of the main components of balanced and restorative justice.”

The Restorative justice concept has been used in Pennsylvania since legislators adopted it into state law in 1995, but Lehigh County officials recently added a Multi-Systemic Therapy strategy aspect to the programming. Restorative justice programs center on offenders repaying the victims of their crimes, while Multi-Systemic Therapy simultaneously targets any trouble that might be occurring in a juvenile's home that causes them to act out further.

Additionally, the county has placed a heavy emphasis on community programs for juveniles, which DeAngelo says has an impact on recidivism rates.

“These changes help a lot with reentry,” DeAngelo says. “While kids are in placement, they do a lot of really great things – they work on their problems and develop relationships. But when they return home, that kind of stops. If we can maintain connections with community agencies and programs when they are released, they can have a smoother transition into their communities.”

Blending Programs, Finding Success

DeAngelo attributes much of the county's success with juveniles to a focus on what happens in the community.

“This is really about community engagement – getting their community involved in working with the kids who are returning back home. It's important to get their lives in order now or else there are going to be problems in our communities,” DeAngelo says.

The process for starting this involvement begins early.

When a youth enters the Lehigh County juvenile justice system, officials assess of their reasons for committing their crime, as well as substance abuse problems and past history of offenses among other things. Once the needs of each youth have been assessed, officials begin to look at the appropriate services for them.

According to DeAngelo, juveniles are referred to the restorative justice program based on the type of crime they have committed, usually nonviolent offenses like the destruction of property.

“Kids who commit crimes have to understand that there is an obligation to the community,” says DeAngelo. “One way to ensure that they are held accountable is to make them give back to the community by doing community service. Some of these programs order the juvenile to do restorative community service; we credit them an hourly minimum wage for their work, and the funds go to the victim of the crime.”

As youths work to pay off the harm they have created, DeAngelo says that he sees a huge impact on the juveniles participating in restorative community service.

“They see the money they could have earned going to the victim of their crimes,” says DeAngelo. “They are being held accountable for their crime, the victim is being reimbursed, and the juvenile is learning a valuable lesson. They aren't being taken off the hook.”

By engaging juvenile offenders in restorative community service, and making sure that they own up to their crimes and communities, DeAngelo says restorative justice programs have a lasting impact.

“A lot of times, kids do not make the connection between what they've done and the harm it has caused the community. When they are out there working and being held accountable in that fashion, it gets the point across,” DeAngelo says.

Youths also have a chance to experience this accountability through role-playing and group therapy programs.

“The role-playing has really been helpful in terms of opening the eyes of these juveniles,” says DeAngelo. “You see a lot of kids who start to understand what they've done to other people because it is acted out until they can grasp it.”

Multi-Systemic Therapy and Success

Beyond the array of balanced and restorative justice programs provided for young offenders, officials have also started to use Multi-Systemic Therapy to help youths. The idea behind the therapy is to further engage families in the youths' rehabilitation.

“This is an intensive, home-based program for juveniles post-release,” says DeAngelo. “A therapist goes into the home to meet with the youth and their families. They discuss anything that is contributing to any problems within the household. If there are any arguments between the parents and the youths, the therapists are there to mediate and help create resolutions.”

DeAngelo says that the therapist is never intended to take over the role of the family, but families are urged to consider therapist recommendations. The family, as a whole, also has to pledge to participate in the rehabilitation of the youth.

“This takes a huge commitment from the other family members,” DeAngelo says. “We want to make sure everyone is involved in the success of these kids.”

He adds that in extreme cases, a judge can court-order the participation of family members in therapy sessions. The therapists assigned to juveniles, and their families, try to ensure that relationships between everyone involved in the success of the youths remain stable.

And according to DeAngelo, Multi-Systemic Therapy is not only effective – it's also cost efficient.

“Multi-Systemic Therapy costs about $52 per day, while a residential program is about $300 per day,” says DeAngelo. “It's much less costly than sending a kid off to a juvenile institution. When it comes to the other programming, it's really about using the resources available in the community so that's certainly not costly.”

But for DeAngelo, reducing juvenile recidivism rates isn't just about restorative justice or Multi-Systemic Therapy; it's about a change in approach to rehabilitation.

“I think there are still people out there who have the thought that kids need to be punished and locked up,” DeAngelo says. “That's not the best way to provide community protection. Eventually, that youth is going to get out and if nothing changes, we're going to see them advance to the criminal justice system in adulthood. We need to create something that kids look forward to in their lives – that is the best way to reduce recidivism.”