EVALUATION ISSUES CONFRONTING JUVENILE JUSTICE SENTENCING REFORMS - ACASE-STUDY OF TEXAS

Many states currently are implementing ''get tough'' sentencing reform s in juvenile justice. Surprisingly however; little attention has been given to evaluation issues identified by the adult justice sentencing literature as critical to assessments of efficacy. Analysis of one re cent juvenile justice sentencing reform in Texas-determinate sentencin g-provides an opportunity to highlight such issues and to demonstrate their relevance to assessment of other states' juvenile justice senten cing reforms. This article identifies the failure to attend adequately to design, implementation, use, and assessment issues, including iden tification of potential unintended effects, as barriers to effective e valuation of these reforms.