Robert Barnoski, Roxanne Lieb, Steve Aos - January 1997

The guidelines established by the Juvenile Justice Act of 1977 determine in large part how juvenile offenders are sentenced in Washington State. This report examines how three primary sentencing factors—a juvenile's crime, criminal history, and age—will affect the chance the juvenile will re-offend as a young adult.

Robert Barnoski, Scott Matson - January 1997

The 1996 Washington State Legislature appropriated $2.35 million to 12 juvenile courts for early intervention programs targeting youth placed on probation for the first time and considered at high risk to re-offend. At the request of the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy evaluated the program. The primary outcome measure is whether there is a reduction in subsequent court adjudications for those youth in the program. The program will be evaluated to determine the level of program success necessary for the state's investment to be cost-effective.

WSIPP - January 1997

This progress report contains new information on the fiscal costs of the criminal justice system in Washington and how they have changed over the last two decades. The report also discusses work underway at the Institute to assess the costs and benefits of criminal justice strategies.

Roxanne Lieb, Lucy Berliner, Patricia Toth - January 1997

A budget proviso in the 1996 supplemental budget directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to "collect data and information from jurisdictions within the state of Washington and outside the state of Washington, including other nations, that have experience with developing protocols and training standards for investigating child sexual abuse." This project incorporated a review of the scientific literature, model protocols and standards from other states and jurisdictions, and legislation in other states. In addition, a panel of state experts visited four counties in the state to observe their practices.

Roxanne Lieb - December 1996

In 1990, Washington State enacted a law authorizing civil commitment of individuals found to be “sexually violent predators” at the end of their criminal sentence. This civil commitment law was part of an omnibus bill, the 1990 Community Protection Act. In order to increase the state’s knowledge about effective strategies with sex offenders, the legislature directed the Institute to evaluate this law’s effectiveness. This publication updates information on the implementation and background of sexual predator laws.

Scott Matson - December 1996

This issue brief explains the general requirements established by the federal government for registration of sex offenders released from incarceration. Also included are the results from a 1996 Institute survey listing the number of registered sex offenders by state.

Charles Wilson, Paul Vincent, Ed Lake, JoAnn Plucker - December 1996

This report surveys the 50 states regarding their organization of children and family services, then analyzes the responses and supplemented information from national sources. In addition, case studies are described using five states that have undergone recent organizational or programmatic reforms in the area of child protection. These states are: Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, and Tennessee.

Scott Matson, Roxanne Lieb - November 1996

In August and September of 1996, the Institute conducted a survey of law enforcement to solicit information on community notification procedures throughout Washington State. The report describes sex offender harassment incidents and methods law enforcement use to reduce these incidents, including community meetings.

Scott Matson - October 1996

An April 1996 Institute report analyzed state statutes covering community notification; 32 states were included. This update includes eight additional states that passed legislation either authorizing community notification or allowing access to sex offender registration information. Arizona’s community notification law also was amended, therefore it is also included.

Roxanne Lieb - October 1996

In 1990, Washington State enacted a civil commitment law for persons found to be sexually violent predators. As of September 1996, 38 persons are housed at the Special Commitment Center in Monroe, Washington; 21 have been committed under the Act, and the others are awaiting trial. This paper summarizes records from the Special Commitment Center regarding the residents' criminal history, offense pattern, treatment history, and mental health diagnosis.