Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform The Federal Role (2014) / Chapter Skim
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4 Facilitating Change Within the Jurisdictions
4 Facilitating Change Within the Jurisdictions
Pages 45-56
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From page 45... ...
This chapter explores how OJJDP can support training for state leaders, how training and technical assistance should evolve to effectively meet the current needs of jurisdictions, how OJJDP could modify its approach to reducing racial and ethnic disparities within the juvenile justice system based on current research, and how support for demonstration programs could advance juvenile justice reform and fill knowledge gaps. The chapter concludes with a look at reinvestment and realignment strategies that are currently being considered by many states.
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From page 46... ...
2 Presentation by Marie Williams and Robin Jenkins to the Committee on a Prioritized Plan to Implement a Developmental Approach in Juvenile Justice Reform, February 13, 2014. 3 "Legacy families" is defined in Chapter 1.
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Recommendation 4-1: OJJDP should promote the development and strengthening of the State Advisory Groups (SAGs) to be juvenile justice reform leaders by supporting meaningful family and youth engagement, fostering partnerships, delivering strategic training and technical assistance aimed at facilitating reform, and ensuring that SAG members and staff are knowledgeable about the hallmarks of a developmental approach to juvenile justice.
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From page 48... ...
Short-term, All grantees, system Overview trainings without Training organizations infrequent, self- partners, professionals at skill building, to raise contained all decision points, SAGs -- awareness of an issue or National partner organizations to address a specific, topic: identified need; upon • rainings T request • orkshops W • ebinars W • omputer-based courses C Level 3. Long-term, Demonstration site In depth, customized Expert consultants intensive grantees (senior leadership, training for specific skills management, supervisors, and to build sustainability: National partner organizations staff, partners, providers, • ultisession training M SAGs)
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From page 49... ...
A review of the literature turned up no scientifically validated approaches to juvenile justice BOX 4-1 Case Study of a Federal and Locality Partnership Local corrections agencies struggle with short-term technical assistance provided by federal agencies to achieve the goals of systemic reform, which has raised concerns that such assistance is insufficiently robust. Over the past several years, New York City's Department of Probation (NYCDOP)
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Recommendation 4-3: All applicants for technical assistance or demonstration grants sponsored by OJJDP should be required to show how they would use the assistance, either strategically or tactically, to implement or strengthen a developmental approach to juvenile justice reform. THE CHALLENGE OF REDUCING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM Reducing racial disparities and disproportionate representation is a critical element of juvenile justice reform.
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From page 51... ...
Subsequent actions included a refocus on disproportionate minority contact in 1992 and establishment of the disproportionalityascertainment requirement as a core protection of the JJDPA Formula Grants Program in 2002. If the percentage of minority youths detained in secure detention facilities, secure correctional facilities, and lockups was disproportionate to their proportion in the general population, states were required to develop and implement plans for reducing the disparities.
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From page 52... ...
. Racial disparities continue to persist in out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, and studies show minority students and students with special education designations are suspended at rates disproportionate to their representation in the student body, especially for less serious misbehavior over which educators and law enforcement may exercise more discretion (Fabelo et al., 2011; U.S.
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From page 53... ...
This, coupled with the research demonstrating that confinement does not reduce the likelihood of re-offending, led many jurisdictions to undertake efforts both to reform the juvenile justice system and reduce racial disparities. Studies of these efforts, including an analysis of sites in the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, demonstrated that even a successful strategy for reducing detention would not necessarily result in a reduction in disparate outcomes (Annie E
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From page 54... ...
The committee believes that these strategies will position OJJDP to assist states with the four reform strategies specified in the 2013 NRC report for moving forward toward the goal of reducing racial disparities: paying special attention to the arrest and detention stages at the front end of the system, reviewing school disciplinary practices and eliminating those that are punitive and discretionary and likely to result in a referral to the juvenile justice system, eliminating formal and informal agency policies and practices that are shown to disproportionately disadvantage minority youths, and increasing the accountability of governments for reducing racial and ethnic disparities. Recommendation 4-4: OJJDP should establish new approaches for identifying racial and ethnic disparities across the juvenile justice system, promulgate new guidelines for reducing and eliminating racial and ethnic 11 Relying on a system reform and developmental framework to improve safety, fairness, and youth outcomes, the multisite demonstration project described below would require data-driven planning; evidence-based and research-informed best practices in policy, practice, and programming; state re-investment commitments; and independent evaluation to create practical, replicable, and sustainable examples of comprehensive change.
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From page 55... ...
DEMONSTRATION GRANTS As noted in Chapter 3, OJJDP could help guide the juvenile justice field by leveraging its available funding and establishing creative partnerships with experienced agencies to develop and offer demonstration programs. A multiyear pilot program or demonstration program could be developed to support, with funding and technical assistance, jurisdictions demonstrating a readiness to implement change and create a developmentally appropriate system.
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From page 56... ...
In addition, OJJDP could provide assistance to states engaged in or seeking to use these strategies, to ensure that they are implementing a developmental approach to their reform and decision making.
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