Results

Since its inception, VisionQuest has been positively evaluated by a number of prestigious organizations including: the Rand Corporation; the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges Commission; the State of California Auditor General's Office (conducted by Arthur Young); the Allegheny (Pennsylvania) court system; and the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Youth Policy.

These studies have consistently found VisionQuest to be an innovative, cost-effective approach that significantly impacts those kids who are often the hardest to reach. Results have shown that:

• VisionQuest has been successful in stopping the cycle of reinstitutionalization for youths. Many VisionQuest youths are serious, long-term offenders whose histories predict that they will be locked up. Yet studies show that after placement with VisionQuest 69% to 86% have not been re-incarcerated.
• VisionQuest has been able to dramatically reduce the percentage of youths committing violent crimes against people after leaving VisionQuest. VisionQuest staff and programs humanize the youths, treating them in such a way that supports them in looking at their behavior and their interactions with others.

VisionQuest has been cited as an effective program in the Guide for Implementing the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders (l995, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice); in What Works: Promising Interventions in Juvenile Justice (1994, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice); and by Helping America’s Youth an effort initiated by President George W. Bush and led by First Lady Laura Bush to disseminate information about evidence-based program designs that successfully respond to risky behaviors.