NCJ Number
82486
Date Published
1980
Length
111 pages
Annotation
This volume of American Bar Association juvenile justice standards pertains to monitoring, which includes observation and evaluation, the formation of a minimum baseline of useful data, the assurance of compliance with applicable norms and standards, and the implementation of change.
Abstract
The standards presented are intended to (1) lead to the development of an accurate, comprehensive information base for monitoring purposes; (2) ensure access to this information by monitors; (3) produce a mixture of external, independent monitoring and internal self-monitoring to ensure the objectivity, reliability, and comprehensiveness of the process; and (4) provide the means both to remedy problems or abuses discovered through the monitoring process and to enforce compliance. In general, the standards do not advocate a rigid monitoring system. The construction of such a system is intended to be left to the discretion of each jurisdiction. While the standards envision a multitiered mix of self-monitoring, court-based monitoring, and monitoring mechanisms external to the juvenile justice system, the final design of the mixture of such mechanisms to perform monitoring of any given agency or proceeding is not specified. Monitoring mechanisms addressed in the standards are defense counsel or counsel for private parties, State commission on juvenile advocacy, community advisory councils, legislature-based monitoring, ombudsman-based monitoring, private sector activities, court-based monitoring, and self-monitoring by juvenile justice agencies. A bibliography of nine listings is provided.