:1Juurut.lr QJxutrt .af ,.alIt Qrnuuty .~ .J - National Criminal Justice ...

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At the time of their initial Court referral, the recidivists
"'ere slight ly younger than the su ccesses. but the non-comp letions
were slightly older.
This pattern is maintained at the time of program
enrollment, 'which could lead one to believe that there may be
an "ideal" age, coupled with the other factors discussed in this
I
chapter; at which a young person vTould most likely benefit from the
structure of the Youth Guidance Program.
Since the non-completions
tend to be older, this may indicate a need for different programming
for the more sophisticated offender.
In examining the data, it was found that those YGP participants
who had completely dropped out of school or were attending an alternative
school had a higher rate of recidivism and program failure. Of
the 18 individuals who failed to complete the program, 61.2% were
attending the Greater Des Moines Education Center, the Douglass
Learning Center. a high school program at Area XI Community College.
or had completely.dropped out of school.
In the group of 25 who success
fu 11y camp leted "the program but had a subsequent Court referra It
20.0% had dropped out of a traditional school setting. Only 14.3% of
the program successes were no longer attending a "regulaI'll school.
These data indicate a substantial relationship between the ability to
complete the YGP and one's school setting. This observation may be
another indication of a pattern of failure some young people may establish.
a pattern that is apparent in their inability to function acceptably
within an academic environment. A criticism of the program offered
at this point is that for some youngsters it apparently perpetuates this
pattern of failure through its school-like st~ucture.
The next two tables compare the offenses of both the program