Audit of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office

This is a state performance audit of the Northwestern District Attorney's Office covering January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2017.

“In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office (NWDA) for the period January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2017.”

Auditors checked whether the office followed victim and witness assistance requirements and how it ran its juvenile diversion program.

“In this performance audit, we examined NWDA’s compliance with Section 5 of Chapter 258B of the General Laws for the Victim Witness Assistance Program, as well as its administration of the Juvenile Diversion Program (JDP).”

Without outcome data, the office has less ability to know whether the juvenile diversion program is actually successful or needs changes.

“As a result, NWDA is limited in its ability to measure the success of the program and determine whether any changes to it are necessary.”

For residents, this matters because the program is meant to help young people avoid a criminal record while still meeting requirements such as service, counseling, restitution, or apologies.

“The JDP is designed to prevent participating youths from having a criminal record.”

The auditors said the office handled many parts of the juvenile program well, but it still needed a formal way to collect and evaluate data about results.

“Although the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office (NWDA) effectively administers many aspects of its Juvenile Diversion Program (JDP), including assessing the needs of participants, defining deliverables and expectations, monitoring participants’ progress, and confirming completion of agreed-upon program requirements, it does not collect data or conduct post-completion outcome evaluations to determine the program’s effectiveness.”

The audit recommended that the office decide what data matters, collect and evaluate it, and use the results to improve the program.

“NWDA should identify the relevant data that could be used to assess the effectiveness of the JDP, establish a formal process to collect and evaluate this information, and use it to make necessary program enhancements.”

The audit found that 198 of 239 youths in the program during the audit period completed all requirements, but the office still needed better outcome tracking after completion.

“During our audit period, 198 (83%) of the program’s 239 participants successfully completed all the program’s requirements.”

A juvenile diversion program is an alternative to regular juvenile court prosecution for some young offenders.

“The JDP offers an alternative to formal prosecution in the juvenile court to certain juvenile offenders between the ages of 7 and 18.”