Mandatory Juvenile Parole: An Analysis of Parole Length of Stay and Juvenile Recidivism.

The Colorado State Legislature passed a law in 1996 requiring all juveniles to serve one year on parole in addition to the length of their commitment sentence. The purpose of this legislation was to extend the scope of juvenile parole to all youth leaving juvenile institutions. The implementation of this legislation provided the context for a natural experiment which is the basis for this study.This research was concerned with how recidivism outcomes varied among a sample of committed youth (n=278) in Colorado released to parole. A retrospective nonexperimental design was employed in which existing sources of quantitative data were used to provide composite profiles of the sample population in several risk and need areas. Drawing on official records, data were also compiled to provide measures of the parole interventions provided to the parolees and subsequent recidivism outcomes. Findings showed that mandatory parole brings more youth under the umbrella of social control for longer periods of time than is necessary to fulfill a reintegrative function. The intensity of parole surveillance and services was more strongly related to the race/ethnicity of parolees than their unique risk factors and treatment needs. The more time youth spent on parole, the greater the likelihood that these same youth were charged and convicted of new criminal offenses while on parole. Mandatory parole functioned in Colorado as a means to extend the period of formal state supervision without necessarily improving the prospects of successful reintegration for juvenile parolees. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]