REDUCING OVERREPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES IN JUVENILE JUSTICE - DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS IN PENNSYLVANIA

Although minority overrepresentation in juvenile justice settings has been identified as a persistent problem, interventions are scarce. To address minority overrepresentation in its juvenile justice system, Pe nnsylvania funded nine community-based intervention programs. This art icle describes a systematic model that provides an active role for pro gram staff in program assessment and development prior to the design o f outcome evaluations. Using archival, interview, and observational me thods, we conducted evaluability assessments and process evaluations o f each program. These formative evaluations provided essential informa tion to strengthen community-based program planning, implementation, a nd impact assessment.