University of Minnesota Medical School report shows Ramsey County youth restorative justice initiative reduces repeat offenses

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (02/26/2026) — A new report from the University of Minnesota Medical School shows successful outcomes of Ramsey County’s (Re)Imagining Justice for Youth Initiative (RJY), which reenvision the county’s youth legal system in the county.

Launched in July 2021, RJY was designed to move away from a traditional court model and toward a collaborative process that prioritizes youth development and safety by focusing on evaluating harm, supporting victims and families and helping young people take responsibility for and change behavior. 

An analysis of the program, led by a Medical School research team, found that youth who participated in community accountability programs had significantly better outcomes than youth whose cases were processed through traditional courts. 

“Reimagining Justice for Youth Initiative is clearly working. The county attorney should continue and consider expanding this approach. Our study is further evidence that when we value humanity first, center the wisdom and lived experience of those most impacted, and are transparent and honest with data, we can come together to make a difference,” said Kara Beckman, the study’s lead researcher at the University of Minnesota Medical School. 

The Collaborative Review Team (CRT) evaluates eligible youth offenses brought to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office (RCAO) to determine if community-accountability was likely to be successful, if the case required justice involvement at all, or whether the traditional justice system was the appropriate approach.

Of the total cases presented by law enforcement to the youth justice system, about 30% were reviewed by the CRT, and 15% were fully resolved through community accountability programs with no court involvement.
 
The research team’s evaluation also found:

• For youth cases submitted in 2022-2023, 12-month recidivism rates — meaning the percentage of youth who committed another offense within a year — for youth whose first cases were resolved in community accountability (4%) was far lower than those resolved in traditional court in the same period (29%), and lower than youth whose first cases were resolved in community in 2017-2018 (7%) or 2012-2013 (10%).
• Additionally, more rigorous statistical analysis found that among matched cases of youth referred to the RCAO for the first time for an assault offense, those whose cases were resolved in community accountability had a 66% lower risk of recidivism compared to matched cases processed in traditional court.
• By revamping and increasing access to community accountability, RJY lowered recidivism rates and established a process that ensures fewer future victims, increased graduation rates, higher employment rates and a healthier community.

This research was funded by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office and the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences [grant UM1TR004405].

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About the University of Minnesota Medical School
The University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. We acknowledge that the U of M Medical School is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota and the Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous people, and we affirm our commitment to tribal communities and their sovereignty as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with tribal nations. Learn more at med.umn.edu.