Assessing the Hartford Community Court Model
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01-Covers 1-4 7/23/01 9:36 AM Page grnC1 U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance DDEVELOPINGEVELOPING AN AN EEVALUATIONVALUATION PPLANLAN FOR FOR CCOMMUNITYOMMUNITY CCOURTSOURTS AASSESSINGSSESSING THE THE HHARTFORDARTFORD CCOMMUNITYOMMUNITY CCOURTOURT MMODELODEL Monograph C OMMUNITY J USTICE S ERIES #4 01-Covers 1-4 7/23/01 9:36 AM Page C2 U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street NW. Washington, DC 20531 John Ashcroft Attorney General Office of Justice Programs World Wide Web Home Page www.ojp.usdoj.gov Bureau of Justice Assistance World Wide Web Home Page www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA For grant and funding information contact U.S. Department of Justice Response Center 1–800–421–6770 This document was prepared by the Crime and Justice Research Institute under grant number 1999–DD–BX–K008, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs,U.S.Department of Justice. The opinions,findings,and conclusions or recommenda- tions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. 02-Text 7/23/01 10:01 AM Page i DEVELOPING AN EVALUATION PLAN FOR COMMUNITY COURTS ASSESSING THE HARTFORD COMMUNITY COURT MODEL July 2001 NCJ 185689 By John S. Goldkamp, Doris Weiland, and Cheryl Irons-Guynn of the Crime and Justice Research Institute 02-Text 7/23/01 10:01 AM Page iii Contents I. Introduction . 1 The Midtown Community Court Prototype . 1 II. Development of the Hartford Community Court . 5 III. Key Elements of the Hartford Community Court Model . 7 Target Problems. 9 Target Locations . 9 Target Populations . 10 Court Processing Focus and Adaptations . 11 Identifying, Screening, and Enrolling Participants. 13 Dispositional Options and the Structure and Content of Services . 17 Community Involvement. 24 Extent of Systemwide Support and Participation . 25 Special Significance of the Hartford Police Department . 26 IV. Implementation and Outcome Goals in the Early-Stage Evaluation of the Hartford Community Court . 29 V. Evaluation Design: Data Collection Strategy . 33 Assessing Implementation-Related Objectives . 33 Assessing the Early-Stage Impact of the Hartford Community Court: Descriptive and Comparative Analysis . 39 VI. Conclusion. 45 VII. Notes. 47 VIII. For More Information . 51 BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE iii 02-Text 7/23/01 10:01 AM Page 1 I. Introduction When the Midtown Community Pennsylvania; and, most notably, Court began operation in Manhattan Hartford, Connecticut. in 1993, it posed a fundamental challenge to traditional assumptions The Hartford Community Court about the role of American courts in opened in 1998 and, as one of the dispensing justice and, in particular, first post-Midtown community about how they should relate to the courts, represents a test of the “community.” The Midtown experi- transferability of the community ment was a catalyst for innovation court model to more “typical” and encouraged the diffusion of the American settings. This monograph community court model to other describes Hartford’s adaptations of jurisdictions with different settings the model and outlines an evalua- and challenges. In fact, for the tion plan for assessing its progress Midtown innovators, an important and impact. The evaluation plan question posed by the community provides a means for measuring the court experiment was whether its progress of the Hartford Community goals and methods could be adapt- Court in meeting its ambitious ed in places quite unlike New York objectives. It also offers a frame- City.1 work for evaluating adaptations of the model that will have broader As other jurisdictions sought to application as other jurisdictions adapt the principles, methods, and recognize the need to assess their goals of the Midtown experiment, newly formed community court it became evident that the next gen- initiatives. eration of community courts would not necessarily resemble the Man- The Midtown Community hattan prototype and that important Court Prototype variations of the original model The nation’s first community would emerge. Although a next court opened in midtown Manhattan generation of community court in October 1993 after 2 years of innovation continued in New York planning. The Midtown Community locations as well (e.g., Red Hook, Court was the product of a collabo- Harlem, and Crown Heights), the ration among a large number of model was adapted to a variety of partners, including the Fund for the settings across the United States. City of New York, the New York These included Portland, Oregon; State Unified Court System, and Austin, Texas; both West Palm representatives of the business Beach and Miami, Florida; Minne- and residential communities in and apolis, Minnesota; Philadelphia, BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 1 02-Text 7/23/01 10:01 AM Page 2 DEVELOPING AN EVALUATION PLAN FOR COMMUNITY COURTS around Times Square and the The community court model views Clinton and Chelsea neighborhoods graffiti, prostitution, littering, public in Manhattan. The planning process drinking, public urination, excessive included input from numerous cor- noise, and a host of other “nui- porations and foundations, social sance” offenses as potentially seri- service agencies, and civic groups. ous and by no means “victimless” The main focus of the Midtown court crimes because they have detrimen- was to respond to low-level, quality- tal effects on the neighborhoods and of-life crimes that affect life, civility, business districts. Built on the belief and safety in these neighborhoods that these offenses, left unchecked, and to make the justice system create negative perceptions of the more accessible and responsive to attractiveness and safety of particu- local residents and businesses. It lar areas, as well as an impression was designed to respond to a grow- of tolerance for disorder that may ing need in these communities to invite more serious crime, the address crime-related problems that Midtown strategy targeted these were ignored or given low priority kinds of crimes.3 by the larger justice system because of the high volume of more serious Some of the priorities identified matters it was struggling to address. by the Manhattan prototype that By default, low-level misdemeanors, appealed to other jurisdictions and public order and nuisance included the need for a tangible offenses—which, in the view of response to communities affected residents, affected the quality of life by crime, the need to restore the in these areas more than murders, credibility of the justice system rapes, robberies, and drug traffick- among both the public and offend- ing—seemed to occur with impunity ers, the need to provide community or received no more than a “revolving members with regular access to door” response of arrest and release the justice process, and the need to with few formal consequences. reduce the behaviors contributing to these problems in targeted neigh- The ambitious aims of the Midtown borhoods by providing access to a Community Court have been desc- broad range of social services to ribed in detail elsewhere.2 In addition both offenders and law-abiding to having a dramatic impact in the community residents. Assignments targeted areas of New York City, the of community service as sanctions philosophy, methods, and aims of for cases processed by the commu- the Midtown experiment reflected nity court provided visible evidence the concerns of other communities of the court’s response to commu- across the United States as they nity crime problems and direct struggled with problems of minor compensation to the community and nuisance offenses affecting for some of the harm suffered from everyday life in their neighborhoods. low-level crime. Community service 2 02-Text 7/23/01 10:01 AM Page 3 Introduction is the principal sanction employed impact, and community members by the Midtown court to link court know that when they report minor processes to the community. offenses, action will be taken. The justice system becomes more credi- The Midtown model sought to ble to offenders and law-abiding cit- provide an appropriate response izens alike, as well as more visible, to low-level crimes by devising a accessible, and accountable to the range of sanctions and services to citizens. hold offenders accountable, help offenders lead more productive The Midtown strategy also facili- lives, and demonstrate to residential tates access to a range of social and business community members services to help offenders address that their problems and concerns problems that contribute to their were being addressed constructively. criminal behavior, including drug At the same time, community court and/or alcohol addiction, mental ill- advocates argued that the larger ness or disability, homelessness, court system would benefit from lack of basic education or job skills, the community court’s effort to or, in the case of young offenders, remove processing of low-level mis- lack of parental supervision com- demeanors and ordinance violations bined with a lack of positive outlets from their caseloads, freeing up and guidance. The Midtown court court resources to deal with more provides onsite services such as serious cases. English as a Second Language and general equivalency diploma class- Thus, the objectives of the com- es, basic health screening, AIDS/ munity court center around provid- HIV awareness programs, vocational ing a more effective response to and employment counseling, and low-level crimes than the traditional facilitated access to a network of courts. Offenders learn that their drug, alcohol, and mental health actions have consequences, the treatment providers. The services police are assured that their arrests are also available to the surrounding of low-level offenders will have an community.