Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Plan (Shocap)

One group of particular interest is the Younger Siblings of Serious Habitual Offenders, groups that potentially share the risk factors of their older siblings and are at the highest risk of entering the juvenile justice system. In 2002, 1,125 Serous Habitual Offenders (SHO) were identified in Miami-Dade County alone. SHOCAP Younger Sibling Project was to design and implement a pilot intervention to provide new and effective services for the younger siblings of SHOs with high risk of entering the juvenile justice system. In sharp contrast to the “back end” objectives of the SHOCAP initiatives, this component focused on the development of a true, front end, primary prevention model.

The Typical Miami-Dade County SHO:

• Has an average of 14 prior arrests
• Comes from a dysfunctional family, often with only a single parent (mother) present in the home
• Has previously been the victim of sexual and/or physical abuse
• Has poor social adjustment in school and/or employment settings

This component has focused on:

• Identification and literature review of SHOCAP siblings and interventions
• Review and data analysis of random samples of SHOCAP and non-SHOCAP youths and siblings
• Interview key stakeholders and staff
• Development of model program intervention and pilot study
• Analyze data and prepare final report
• Development of manual

The SHO-SIB design will be proposed as a model program to the Youth Crime Task Force as an intense family strengthening plan for what are often identified as multi-generational, justice-involved families that historically do not respond to normal interventions. Further innovation will be the proposal that multiple community-based organizations work with national researchers to deliver services to multiple areas of the community. This will, for the first time, propose to develop community expertise in a collaborative as opposed to competitive fashion. 

Lead Researchers:
Dr. Norman Poythress
Dr. Gary Melton
Dr. Paul Frick
Dr. David Altschuler
Dr. Tom Grisso
Dr. Andrea Vazzana