Juvenile system mentoring programs in Bexar County: Referrals and recidivism

The purpose of this study is to provide the Bexar County Juvenile Probation Department (BCJPD) with a comparison of the recidivism rates between juvenile probationers court ordered to participate in a mentoring program and an age-matched control group who received no such services. Objectives include learning more about the general profiles of youth referred to mentoring, determining whether participation in mentoring programs has any effect on recidivism, and controlling for demographic and legal variables. Both program (N= 375) and control subsamples (N= 375) entered probation calendar years 2004-2009. In an effort to shed light on the process of referring youth to mentoring programs, this study seeks to provide the BCJPD with a clearer picture of the justice outcomes of program youth to determine whether the program meets with its expectations and goals for this group. It is anticipated that, the results of the research will: (1) provide the BCJPD with a more succinct explanation of the various influential factors involved in recidivism and (2) delineate the differences in recidivism while controlling for mentoring participation status.