@article{ref1,
title="Miami-Dade County Juvenile Weapons Offenders Program (JWOP): a potential model to reduce firearm crime recidivism nationwide",
journal="Trauma surgery and acute care open",
year="2021",
author="Soe-Lin, Hahn and Sarver, Anjali and Kaufman, Joyce and Sutherland, Marilyn and Ginzburg, Enrique",
volume="5",
number="1",
pages="e000637-e000637",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: Youth firearm violence has been a growing problem in the USA. Several programs across the country aimed at reducing recurrent gun violence in this  vulnerable population have published recidivism rates of 40% to 50%. For the past 18  years, the Juvenile Weapons Offenders Program (JWOP) in Miami-Dade County has  provided a unique multidisciplinary intervention encompassing 100 hours of violence  education, behavioral modification, and social mentoring. The present study defines  its outcomes as a national model for youth firearm recidivism prevention. <br><br>METHODS:  Retrospective analysis of Florida Juvenile Justice Department records from 2008 to  2016 defined a group of youths convicted of firearm-related crimes and subsequently  enrolled in the program. Cohorts were those who demonstrated successful completion  of the JWOP program versus those who partially completed the program. At 6 and 12  months after release, records were cross-referenced with Florida Department of  Justice criminal record system to prospectively capture rates of new all-comer and  firearm-specific criminal charges. <br><br>RESULTS: 215 youth were included in the  prospectively followed cohort at 6 months and 163 youth followed at 12 months after  release. The 6-month recidivism rate for any criminal charge was 20.1% for program  completers versus 32.9% for those who did not complete the program (p=0.047). When  excluding unarmed criminal offenses, the recidivism rate dropped to 10.1% versus  22.4%, respectively (p=0.008). At 12 months, all-comers recidivism was 33.6% for the  GATE program completion cohort versus 50% for the incomplete cohort (p=0.045). When  excluding unarmed offenses, the recidivism rates were 18.6% versus 33.9%,  respectively (p=0.035). <br><br>CONCLUSION: The JWOP program has one of the lowest  recidivism rates for reoffense for firearm and non-firearm-related offenses. Further  investigation into details of the program's efficacy and its applicability for  expansion to other state and national jurisdictions should serve a model for  decreasing youth gun violence across the country.  Keywords: Juvenile justice <p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2397-5776",
doi="10.1136/tsaco-2020-000637",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tsaco-2020-000637"
}