NCJ Number
102250
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 66 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring-Summer 1986) Pages: 52-66
Date Published
1986
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Nebraska's Individual Justice Plan (IJP), begun in 1982, addresses the needs of developmentally disabled offenders by emphasizing offender accountability, the least restrictive sentencing alternative, due process, normalization, and community control and safety in the context of individualized treatment.
Abstract
The IJP targets nonviolent developmentally disabled offenders and is based in the philosophy that such offenders are accountable for their illegal behavior. Program participants are presumed competent and capable of self-management until incompetency has been clearly demonstrated. IJP advocates intervention that involves the least departure from normative living conditions. Sentencing conditions imposed by the court form the parameters within which an IJP team designs an individualized program. Issues considered by the team include residence, employment, education, social needs, money management, family relationships, medical care, advocacy, transportation, and restitution. Sixty IJP's have been implemented throughout Nebraska. Plans have been developed prior to arrest, for pretrial release, as sentencing alternatives, as parole plans, and for postrelease. Based on Nebraska's experience, IJP's can be established within a State or community's existing developmental disabilities service system. A sample IJP case is provided. 3 footnotes.