The Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration implemented a new model of juvenile parole services in 2003, Functional Family Therapy. This new model of parole, Functional Family Parole (FFP), is intended to make families the unit of intervention—not just the youth—and uses family therapy-based approaches to enhance case management outcomes. The new parole model was implemented with several other evidence-based changes in the JRA residential program, collectively called the Integrated Treatment Model. Recent budget reductions led to the elimination of parole for all JRA offenders except high-risk, auto theft offenders, and sex offenders, creating a “natural experiment” allowing us to test of the impacts of Functional Family Parole upon youth in the period following their release. We found that “FFP Youth” were less likely to be arrested and had fewer total arrests during the 9 months following release than those released during the period without the enhanced parole services. “FFP Youth” were also more likely to be employed and earned more on average during the year following release than “No FFP Youth.”
