Criminal convictions of care leavers of youth villages in Israel

Care leavers are consistently overrepresented in the criminal justice system, a pattern documented across multiple countries. The study examines conviction rates of care leavers from youth villages (YV) in Israel. It compares care leavers from therapeutic and educational villages with their matched peers. It examines predictors of criminal convictions. The study is based on a secondary analysis of the administrative database of the entire male population of educational and therapeutic YV in 16 consecutive birth cohorts (14,637), and PSM-matched same-age peers (29,018). The conviction rates among care leavers in educational YV (8.7%) were lower compared with therapeutic YV (16.3%). Hierarchical logistic regression indicated that family background was associated with criminal conviction (e.g., immigrants from Ethiopia and the FSU were more likely to be convicted [OR = 1.92 and OR = 1.46, respectively] than Israeli-born individuals). After controlling for family background, participants who earned a quality matriculation diploma were far less likely than youth with a regular diploma to be convicted (OR = 0.32). Care leavers (from both settings) were more likely to be convicted. This gap between care-experienced and non-care-experienced participants is larger in therapeutic settings than in educational settings (OR = 1.40). The discussion interprets the findings as markers of a complex set of factors shaping the lives of Israeli YV care leavers. The implications highlight the importance of following up with care leavers, especially those from therapeutic YV. The authors emphasize the need to consider implementing a virtual headmaster to identify and support residents with low academic achievement.