Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

Good Practices and InnovATIONS in Public Governance
and
• Victim Services: The Program offers victims direct and confidential advocacy,
support groups, legal assistance, court accompaniment, assistance with Victim/
Witness claims, and resource referrals.
Instead of “informally” treating youth cases through Probation, under the new court
system the vast majority (93%) of domestic/family violence cases in Santa Clara put
offenders on formal probation. A formal probation model treats juvenile violence as
a serious crime and focuses on early intervention to stop the violence and rehabilitate
the offender. A 2003 study that tracked the specialized court three years after its inception
showed that most youth who completed the 26-week intervention program
were deterred from recidivism.
Lessons Learned
The model is clearly sustainable since it is still in operation almost nine years later,
under the leadership of two subsequent juvenile delinquency judges. It has not required
specific funding of any kind. Santa Clara’s specialized court has been the
subject of scholarly research on the Effects of Court-Based Programs on Recidivism
(Sagatun-Edwards etc., 2003 and Ueket, Sagatun-Edwards etc., 2006), and has received
national attention on television programs like Nightline, Good Morning
America, 60 Minutes and Montel Williams.
Within two years of the court’s 1999 launch of the Juvenile and Family Domestic
Violence Court, nearby San Francisco County replicated a similar model with few
adjustments. Under a grant from the National Centre for State Courts, researchers
studied the effects of Santa Clara County’s specialized Juvenile and Family Violence
Court in 2003 and 2006. The study found the specialized program had a deterrent
effect on first-time offenders. However, youth who already had a criminal record
were more at risk to recidivate. One year after the arresting incident, about 30% of
offenders with prior delinquency had recidivated, regardless of any specialized intervention.
There are a number of important lessons learned as outlined below:
• The importance of fostering interagency collaboration: It took months to
develop smooth collaboration. Frequent meetings kept the players working toward
the same goals;
• Ensure completion of the 26-week program: the key to achieving recidivism
goals, especially with first-time offenders, included completing the 26-
week program. Thus it was necessary to deal with alcohol or substance abuse
issues as early as possible, and employ review strategies that encourage probation
compliance. The ability and willingness of juveniles to successfully complete
a probation program varies significantly between first-time offenders and
220