NCJ Number
236857
Date Published
2011
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The Juvenile Justice Work Group of the Youth Transition Funders Group, which is composed of regional and national grantmakers, presents and discusses nine tenets that lay the groundwork for juvenile justice reforms across the Nation.
Abstract
First, reduce institutionalization of juveniles. Although necessary for youth who pose serious public safety risks, the majority of justice-involved youth can be safely supervised and treated in the community or in non-secure facilities, producing more cost-effective outcomes than institutionalization. Second, reduce racial disparity in the juvenile justice system by basing sentencing and correctional decisionmaking on objective assessment instruments. Third, ensure access to quality counsel who has received special training on topics such as adolescent development, mental health, and special education. Fourth, create a repertoire of community-based programs that range from probation to intensive supervision, home confinement, alternative education, family preservation, restitution, community service, and day and evening reporting centers. Fifth, recognize and serve youth with special needs that include serious emotional disorders, developmental disabilities, substance abuse, or a combination of these challenges. Sixth, create smaller rehabilitative institutions which provide high-risk youth the care and rehabilitative environment they need to change their behaviors. Families are engaged in the rehabilitation process to facilitate a youth's successful transition back into society. Seventh, improve aftercare and reentry by facilitating cooperation between custodial and community-based agencies in targeting programming on issues and needs associated with effective reentry into the community. Eighth, maximize youth, family, and community participation in an adolescent's treatment and rehabilitation, as well as in systemic reform efforts. Ninth, keep youth out of adult prisons, where they are more likely than adults to be physically and emotionally abused by staff and other inmates, as well as return to crime at a higher rate. 20 notes