Found 96 matches.
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Shut Down Sequel: Progress Report
Tags: Alabama | California | Michigan | Minnesota | Ohio | Oregon | Utah | Deinstitutionalization | Institutional Conditions | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Privatization | Advocacy | NJJN Publications
Shut Down Sequel Progress Report, outlining progress made in our efforts to shut down Sequel facilities and advocate for systemic reforms. NJJN repeats its call for states to end ties with Sequel, but compel states to go further in implementing protections for kids by: 1) ending the use of for-profit facilities for youth, 2) banning the use of restraint, and 3) bringing youth home, prioritizing community-based care over harmful congregate care settings.
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Concerns Over Recent Actions by the Department of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Tags: Federal | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | Youth in the Adult System | Advocacy | Administrative/Regulatory Policies | Reports | Partner Publications
This backgrounder published by the Campaign for Youth Justice outlines how recent actions taken by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) toward loosening compliance with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Acts (JJDPA) core requirements will be extremely detrimental to young people in contact with the justice system, especially youth of color.
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Improving Outcomes for Justice-Involved Youth Through Structured Decision-Making and Diversion
Tags: Federal | Virginia | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Positive Youth Development and Strengths-Based Programming | Risk Assessment and Screening | Restorative Justice | Evidence-Based Practices | Advocacy | Administrative/Regulatory Policies | Reports | Research | Partner Publications | Fact Sheets and Briefs
This issue brief by the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University reviews research on the structured decision-making process and diversion, including the use of risk and needs assessment tools and dispositional matrices. It also has a focus on how these tools can improve the effectiveness of juvenile diversion programming. Moving from research to practice, this brief further highlights some of the recent reform efforts in Fairfax County, Virginia.
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NORCOR_DRO_Don't Look Around-A Window into Inhumane Conditions for Youth ...
Tags: Oregon | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | General System Reform | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Physical Health | Youth in the Adult System | Correctional Education | Reports | Research | Member Publications
The report shows the fact and statistics of youths being incarcerated in correctional facilities in Oregon. Due to the fact that a lot of facilities are not regulated, the safe and humane conditions for youth in such facilities have become a big concern. The lack of oversight and accountability has allowed Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility (NORCOR), for example, to neglect the basic mental health and social development needs of kids in custody. Disability Rights Oregon is calling for immediate implementation of the 2016 recommendation by the Oregon State Court Juvenile Justice Mental Health Task Force: that all child-serving systems commit to employing evidence-based, trauma-informed practices and that juvenile detention facilities be regulated and licensed.
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Bring Our Children Home: Ain't I A Child? (full report)
Tags: New Jersey | Brain and Adolescent Development | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | General System Reform | Youth in the Adult System | Member Publications
Extreme racial inequalities persist within New Jersey's juvenile justice system, according to a report from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Includes policy solutions.
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Bring Our Children Home: Ain't I A Child? (policy brief)
Tags: New Jersey | Brain and Adolescent Development | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | General System Reform | Youth in the Adult System | Member Publications
Extreme racial inequalities persist within New Jersey's juvenile justice system, according to a report from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Includes policy solutions.
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Advocates Want Juvenile Justice Overhaul, Clash Over Direction
Tags: Virginia | Deinstitutionalization | Institutional Conditions | Advocacy | Reports | Partner Publications
Virginia, a state poised to set a national standard, is still bedeviled by some of the same problems seen in other states, thanks in part to an outdated national attitude that juvenile offenders only deserve punishment.
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New Information About the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Up to Nine in Ten Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth Have Been Disciplined in School
Tags: Federal | Deinstitutionalization | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Research
This policy brief addresses issues of the School-to-Prison Pipeline in discussion with data based on a surveys of seven detention halls across the country, who's finding show that 9 in 10 detained and incarcerated youth were suspended or expelled before entering the justice system.
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Stemming the Rising Tide: Racial & Ethnic Disparities in Youth Incarceration and Strategies for Change (Burns Institute)
Tags: National | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | Youth in the Adult System | Restorative Justice | Reports | Partner Publications
Report from Burns Institute documenting racial disparities trends in the juvenile justice system and recommending strategies to address the roots of racial inequities and allow youth of color a chance at restorative justice and greater well being.
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ISE for Youth: What Stakeholders Can Do to Transform Virginia' s Juvenile Justice System
Tags: Virginia | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Partner Publications
The report makes recommendations for how the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Task Force on Juvenile Correctional Centers, and the community can re-invest in supportive environments for youth.
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Detained: Nebraska’s Problem with Juvenile Incarceration (Voices for NE Children)
Tags: Nebraska | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | General System Reform | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Reports | Member Publications
A fact sheet reviewing Nebraska's over-use of detention for youth, with recommendations to address the problem.
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Infographic: It Takes a Village - Diversion Resources for Police and Families
Tags: Connecticut | Illinois | Michigan | Nebraska | Nevada | Oregon | Brain and Adolescent Development | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Status Offenses | Reports | Partner Publications
Summary of brief from Vera Institute of Justice explores the community-focused work being done in Nevada, Connecticut, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, and Oregon to find productive responses to youth "acting out."
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It Takes a Village: Diversion Resources for Police and Families
Tags: Connecticut | Illinois | Michigan | Nebraska | Nevada | Oregon | Brain and Adolescent Development | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Status Offenses | Reports | Partner Publications
This brief from Vera Institute of Justice explores the community-focused work being done in Nevada, Connecticut, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, and Oregon to find productive responses to youth "acting out."
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Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative Testimony on Closure of Kewanee Youth Correctional Facility_Mar25-2016
Tags: Illinois | Deinstitutionalization | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Testimony | Member Publications
NJJN's Illinois member, the Juvenile Justice Initiative, submitted written testimony supporting the closure of the Kewanee youth correctional facility.
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YTFG Blueprint for Youth Justice Reform - 2016
Tags: National | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Crossover and Dual Jurisdiction Youth | Deinstitutionalization | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | Family and Youth Involvement | General System Reform | Girls | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Youth in the Adult System | Partner Publications
The Youth Justice Work Group (YJWG) of the Youth Transition Funders Group (YTFG) envisions a youth justice system that fosters the healthy development and well-being of all children and youth by building upon their strengths, cultivating their relationships with caring adults, supporting their families and communities, and offering them age-appropriate opportunities for future success. We are committed to partnering with the broader community to promote restorative justice, safety, opportunity and positive outcomes for all young people. In order to achieve our vision, and in alignment with YTFG’s Youth Well-Being Framework, we recommend the following 10 Tenets for Youth Justice Reform.
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Bring Youth Home: Building on Ohio's Deincarceration Leadership
Tags: Ohio | National | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Member Publications
Since 1992, Ohio’s youth prison population topped 2,500 and was projected to rise to 4,000. In 1994, Ohio began implementing programs to incentivize local courts to keep youth closer to home. Today admissions to Ohio juvenile correctional facilities are lower than 500 youth and Ohio makes significant investments in redirecting youth to community-based alternatives that are less expensive and more effective than locked facilities. The report is designed to give other jurisdictions insights into lessons learned in Ohio as they create new or reevaluate existing deincarceration programs as well as to continue to encourage innovate within Ohio.
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Executive Summary | Bring Youth Home: Building on Ohio's Deincarceration Leadership
Tags: Ohio | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Member Publications
Since 1992, Ohio’s youth prison population topped 2,500 and was projected to rise to 4,000. In 1994, Ohio began implementing programs to incentivize local courts to keep youth closer to home. Today admissions to Ohio juvenile correctional facilities are lower than 500 youth and Ohio makes significant investments in redirecting youth to community-based alternatives that are less expensive and more effective than locked facilities. The report is designed to give other jurisdictions insights into lessons learned in Ohio as they create new or reevaluate existing deincarceration programs as well as to continue to encourage innovate within Ohio.
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Trends in Juvenile Justice State Legislation 2011-2015
Tags: National | Aftercare/Reentry | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Crossover and Dual Jurisdiction Youth | Deinstitutionalization | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | General System Reform | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Reports
National Conference of State Legislatures tracks trends in state legislation of youth justice reform for 2011-2015. Specific trends have emerged to: Restore jurisdiction to the juvenile court, divert youth from the system, reform detention, shift resources from incarceration to community-based alternatives, provide strong public defense for youth, address racial and ethnic disparities in justice systems, respond more effectively to the mental health needs of young offenders, and improve re-entry and aftercare programs for youth.
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Juvenile Prisons: National Consensus and Alternatives
Tags: Connecticut | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Reports | Research | Member Publications
This report by NJJN member the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance makes the case for the closure of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School and the Pueblo Unit, based on national research citing the failure of youth prisons nationwide to rehabilitate young people. The report makes recommendations based on successful state-level models.
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Virginia: 2015 Guidelines for Determining the Length of Stay of Juveniles Indeterminately Committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice
Tags: Virginia | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Evidence-Based Practices | Administrative/Regulatory Policies
2015 guidelines for determining length of stay for youth in the juvenile justice system in Virginia.
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North Carolina Juvenile Code Reform Legislation (HB 879) Becomes Effective December 1, 2015
Tags: North Carolina | Confidentiality | Deinstitutionalization | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Prevention | Legislation
Summary of North Carolina HB 879 (enacted as S.L. 2015-58); increases due process protections for juveniles, reduce further entry of juveniles in the delinquency system, and reduce juvenile confinement.
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Closer to Home: An Analysis of the State and Local Impact of the Texas Juvenile Justice Reforms
Tags: Texas | Deinstitutionalization | Research
This study of 1.3 million Texas juvenile case records over eight years shows youth incarcerated in state-run facilities are 21% more likely to be rearrested than those who are supervised closer to home. When they do reoffend, youth released from state-secure facilities are three times more likely to commit a felony than youth under community supervision.
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Highlights from Pathways to Desistance: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Adolescent Offenders
Tags: National | Aftercare/Reentry | Brain and Adolescent Development | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Evidence-Based Practices | Reports | Research
The Pathways to Desistance Study is a large collaborative multidisciplinary project that is following 1,354 serious juvenile offenders age 14-18 for 7 years after their conviction. The primary findings of the study to date deal with the decrease in self-reported offending over time by most serious adolescent offenders, the relative inefficacy of longer juvenile incarcerations in decreasing recidivism, the effectiveness of community-based supervision, and the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment in reducing both substance use and offending.
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The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences
Tags: National | Crime Data and Statistics | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Reports | Research
This study encompasses research on, and analyses of, the proximate causes of the dramatic rise in the prison population, the societal dynamics that supported those proximate causes, and the effects of this increase on U.S. society.
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Treat Kids as Kids
Tags: California | Deinstitutionalization | Youth in the Adult System | Reports | Member Publications
The California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice penned this report highlighting the risks and dangers of trying, confining, or incarcerating young people in adult courts and prisons. The article offers concrete policy recommendations to ultimately end these practices in California.
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Juveniles in Placement, 2011 (OJJDP)
Tags: National | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | General System Reform | Youth in the Adult System | Reports
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention provides a detailed picture of youth in both public and private residential placements for the year 2011.
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Kentucky S.B. 200, 2014 (Juvenile Justice System Reform)
Tags: Kentucky | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Status Offenses | Legislation
The full text of Kentucky's 2014 S.B. 200, an omnibus bill that requires sweeping changes to the state's juvenile justice system.
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DC, Reforming Youth Diversion in the District of Columbia, 2014
Tags: District of Columbia | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Positive Youth Development and Strengths-Based Programming | Reports
This report focuses on how DC can prevent unnecessary youth involvement in the juvenile justice system and explains what stakeholders would be involved in this process.
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How Educators Can Eradicate Disparities in School Discipline: A Briefing Paper on School-Based Interventions
Tags: National | Deinstitutionalization | Reports
This National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) research brief examines states' role in monitoring conditions and outcomes for youth involved in the justice system. It is part of an 8 part series from NCCD on deincarceration in the U.S. youth justice system.
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Stakeholders' Views on the Movement to Reduce Youth Incarceration
Tags: National | Deinstitutionalization | Reports | Research
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Study Methods for the NCCD Deincarceration Project
Tags: National | Deinstitutionalization | Reports | Research
This National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) paper explains NCCD's research methodology for its 8 part series on deincarceration in the U.S. youth justice system.
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Using Bills and Budgets to Further Reduce Youth Incarceration
Tags: National | Deinstitutionalization | Reports | Research
This National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) research brief explores how to leverage fiscal concerns to reduce youth incarceration. It is part of an 8 part series from NCCD on deincarceration in the U.S. youth justice system.
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Why Detention is Not Always the Answer: A Closer Look at Youth Lock-Up in Arkansas
Tags: Arkansas | Deinstitutionalization | Risk Assessment and Screening | Member Publications
Reviews the harmful impact of juvenile detention, its use and misuse in Arkansas. Makes recommendations for detention reform.
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Staff Responses to Organizational Change
Tags: New York | National | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Reports
This report details the effects of juvenile justice facility reform and deinstitutionalization on the ground, drawing from research about facilities in New York. This report seeks to educate policymakers and advocates about the effects of reforms on young people and staff. It examines why some staff members and their unions so strongly resist deinstitutionalization, and what the impact of reform practices and policies are on the individuals who live and work in the facilities.
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The Comeback and Coming-from-Behind States: An Update on Youth Incarceration in the United States
Tags: California | Connecticut | Illinois | Missouri | Mississippi | Nebraska | New York | Ohio | South Dakota | Texas | Washington | Wisconsin | Wyoming | National | Deinstitutionalization | NJJN Publications
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Arrested Development: Confinement Can Negatively Affect Youth Maturation
Tags: International | National | Brain and Adolescent Development | Deinstitutionalization | Reports | NJJN Publications
According to recent research funded by the John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation's Models for Change Initiative, incarceration can stymie young people's psychosocial maturation--meaning that youth who experience incarceration may be more impulsive and susceptible to negative peer influence upon release, increasing the risk of re-arrest.
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Nebraska Legislative Bill 561
Tags: Nebraska | Aftercare/Reentry | Crossover and Dual Jurisdiction Youth | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Status Offenses | Legislation
Nebraska's L.B. 561, a comprehensive youth justice reform bill.
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Trauma and Environment of Care in Juvenile Institutions: NCTSN Trauma-Informed Approaches Brief
Tags: Deinstitutionalization | Institutional Conditions | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Reports
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, a program of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Mental Health Services, released six online briefs in September, 2013. This brief outlines how the environment of secure confinement facilities can traumatize youth or exacerbate existing trauma.
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The Comeback States: Reducing Juvenile Incarceration in the United States - NJJN, TPPF
Tags: California | Connecticut | Illinois | Mississippi | New York | Ohio | Texas | Washington | Wisconsin | National | Deinstitutionalization | NJJN Publications
Nine "comeback states" are featured for their dramatic reversal of youth incarceration rates in the past decade and for adopting policies that will promote further reductions.
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Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach
Tags: Federal | National | Brain and Adolescent Development | Deinstitutionalization | Family and Youth Involvement | General System Reform | Status Offenses | Youth in the Adult System | Reports | Research
The National Research Council's report brief combines a summary of new research in adolescent developmental psychology with an evaluation of reigning policies in juvenile justice. Based on these materials, the NRC makes recommendations for juvenile justice policy reform.
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Common Ground: Lessons Learned from Five States that Reduced Juvenile Confinement by More than Half
Tags: Arizona | Connecticut | Louisiana | Minnesota | Tennessee | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Reports | Partner Publications
Report looks closely at five states that did the most to reduce their juvenile incarceration rates between 2001 and 2010-- Connecticut, Arizona, Minnesota, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Looks at the common factors driving their success, and makes recommendations to the field and other states.
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Juvenile Justice Reform in Connecticut: How Collaboration and Commitment Improved Outcomes for Youth Justice Policy Institute
Tags: Connecticut | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | General System Reform | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Status Offenses | Reports | Partner Publications
A look at Connecticut’s juvenile justice system reforms shows how a culture change and major investments in evidence-based services turned a wasteful, punitive, ineffective, and abusive juvenile justice system into a national model, at no additional cost to taxpayers.
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Juvenile Justice Reform in Connecticut: How Collaboration and Commitment Improved Outcomes for Youth Justice Policy Institute [Exec. Summ]
Tags: Connecticut | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | General System Reform | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Status Offenses | Partner Publications
A look at Connecticut’s juvenile justice system reforms shows how a culture change and major investments in evidence-based services turned a wasteful, punitive, ineffective, and abusive juvenile justice system into a national model, at no additional cost to taxpayers.
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Reducing Youth Incarceration in the United States: KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot
Tags: Deinstitutionalization | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | Reports | Research | Partner Publications
KIDS COUNT data snapshot from the Casey Foundation finds the rate of young people locked up because they were in trouble with the law dropped more than 40 percent over a 15-year period, with no decrease in public safety, though racial disparities persist.
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Shifting Away From Incarceration: Fiscal Realignment Strategies to End the Mass Incarceration of Youth in the United States
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Presentations | Member Publications
An overview of realignment trends in the U.S. that are reducing the number of youth who are incarcerated. Special focus on Redeploy Illinois, as well as the Pathways to Desistance research showing better outcomes for youth kept in their homes.
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Community Solutions for Youth in Trouble
Tags: Texas | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Reports
This report by NJJN member Texas Criminal Justice Coalition identifies juvenile justice programs that have proven successful despite real-world challenges and restraints.
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Cost-Saving & Public Safety-Driven Strategies for Texas’ Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Educational Primer
Tags: Texas | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | General System Reform | Reports | Member Publications
The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition created an educational primer that outlines six criminal and juvenile justice areas in need of improvement, with realistic reform solutions in each area.
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SHIFTING AWAY FROM INCARCERATION: Fiscal Realignment Strategies to End the Mass Incarceration of Youth in the United States, Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Member Publications
This paper documents the national shift from away from juvenile incarceration to community alternatives to confinement. Focuses on Redeploy Illinois but documents similar reforms across the U.S. Also highlights U.S. longitudinal research documenting better outcomes for youth treated in community alternatives rather than removed from their homes.
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Less Serious Offenses Account for 90 Percent of the Growth in Juvenile Placements
Tags: Deinstitutionalization | Reports
In this fact sheet from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, data from the National Center for Juvenile Justice shows that lesser offenses, like drug violations and disorderly conduct, made up more than 90 percent of all the growth in out-of-home placements since 1985.
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New York Approves Close to Home Initiative
Tags: New York | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
New York State lawmakers approved a package of major juvenile justice reforms called the “Juvenile Justice Services Close to Home” initiative for inclusion in Governor Cuomo’s 2012 budget. Close to Home aims to place most New York City youth who are adjudicated delinquent in residential facilities near their home communities, reserving secure state confinement facilities for youth who have committed the most serious offenses. Under the law, New York City is to develop a comprehensive system that ensures the least restrictive and most appropriate level of care for all youth. The initiative’s stated goals are to: create a continuum of diversion, supervision, treatment, and confinement; minimize the dislocation of youth from their families and community supports; promote family and community involvement; ensure system accountability; be data-driven and based on “evidence-informed” practices; and provide effective reintegration services, especially with regard to education and treatment services. A. 9057/Act No. 57, signed into law March 30, 2012; effective September 1, 2012.
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The Truth About Consequences: Studies Point toward Sparing Use of Formal Juvenile Justice System Processing and Incarceration
Tags: Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | NJJN Publications
Recent research shows that incarcerating young people and formally processing them through the juvenile justice system is harmful and counter-productive in most cases.
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Issue Brief: Nebraska's Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers
Tags: Nebraska | Deinstitutionalization | Reports
Voices for Children in Nebraska details the benefits of downsizing in Nebraska.
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Juvenile Justice Realignment in 2012
Tags: California | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
This report outlines five core recommendations that support Governor Brown's juvenile justice realignment proposal.
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No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration
Tags: Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Fiscal Issues and Funding | General System Reform | Reports
The Annie E. Casey Foundation's new report, *No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration,* assembles a vast array of evidence to demonstrate that incarcerating kids doesn't work; it also shows that many states have substantially reduced their juvenile correctional facility populations with no increase in juvenile crime or violence. Includes recommendations for further reform.
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Illinois Limits Use of Secure Confinement, Illinois, H.B. 83
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
Limits judges' ability to commit youth to secure confinement and the Department of Juvenile Justice until they have determined it is necessary, based on "a review of the youth's age, criminal history, mental health assessment and other factors." The bill also requires judges to verify that commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice is the least restrictive alternative, and that all reasonable efforts to serve youth in their homes have been made.
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Illinois Requires Consideration of Community Alternatives to Incarceration in All Juvenile Cases, H.B. 83
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
Legislation now requires juvenile court judges in Illinois to review additional factors before sentencing youth, with the goal of ensuring incarceration is the last resort. The law states that the court may commit a youth to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) only if such commitment is the least restrictive alternative appropriate for the youth.
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Connecticut Restricts Use of Detention, H.B. 6634
Tags: Connecticut | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Legislation
Connecticut law restricts placement of youth in detention unless there is probable cause to believe the youth has committed the acts alleged and there is no less restrictive alternative available. The law also carves out six additional factors that allow for detention, including a strong probability that a youth will run away and a judicial finding of a violation of a suspended detention order. No youth may be held in any detention center without a judicial order to detain.
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Bringing Youth Home: A National Movement to Increase Public Safety, Rehabilitate Youth and Save Money, National Juvenile Justice Network
Tags: Alabama | California | District of Columbia | Florida | Kansas | New York | Ohio | Texas | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Crime Data and Statistics | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports | NJJN Publications
Report highlighting positive news stemming from and of interest to budget conscious and public safety-minded states. The publication includes examples of states that reduced their juvenile facility populations and are now not only reaping the rewards of newfound funds that can be directed into more effective community-based services for youth, but are also seeing a better return on their investment in terms of juvenile rehabilitation and public safety.
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OCFS Fact Sheet: Rightsizing Juvenile Justice, New York State Office of Children and Family Services, June 2011
Tags: New York | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
The New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) has downsized or closed a total of 31 facilities since 2007, with four facilities closed and four facilities downsized in August 2011 alone. Over the past ten years, the number of youth referred for facility placement with OCFS declined from 2,313 in 2000-2001 to a population of 627 youth in January 2011, a 73 percent decrease. State officials report that facility closures and downsizing have saved New York State $58 million.
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Florida Restricts Incarceration of Youth with Low-Level Convictions, S.B. 2114
Tags: Florida | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
With some exceptions, Florida courts may no longer commit youth without felony convictions to residential facilities. Exceptions include youth with three or more prior misdemeanor adjudications and youth adjudicated of offenses highly correlated with risk to re-offend. In its reasoning for the law, the legislature cites the high cost of incarceration, the ineffectiveness of incarceration, and the benefits of keeping youth connected with their families and communities.
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Georgia Allows Youth a Chance at Release from Restrictive Custody, Good Behavior Bill, H.B. 373
Tags: Georgia | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
Georgia's "Good Behavior Bill" allows the Department of Juvenile Justice or a youth to bring a motion to modify custody of youth committed to the department for certain designated felonies. The law now allows the court to recognize a youth's good behavior and academic and rehabilitative progress, and grant release from restrictive custody after a hearing on the evidence.
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Colorado Reduces Juvenile Detention Bed Cap by 57 Beds, S.B. 217
Tags: Colorado | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Legislation
The cap on the number of juvenile detention beds in Colorado was reduced by law from 479 to 422 beds. Bed caps on detention originated from S.B. 94 in 1991; the state periodically revises the caps as the utilization rate declines. When the cap is exceeded, the state must do an emergency release. The bed reduction also allows the legislature to reduce corresponding costs.
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Harms of Detention, Truth of Youth Toolkit
Tags: Arkansas | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Reports
Fact sheet from Arkansas on the negative effects of detention of youth.
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The Missouri Model: Reinventing the Process of Rehabilitating Youthful Offenders, Richard A. Mendel, Annie E. Casey Foundation
Tags: Missouri | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Reports
Report profiling the key tenets and practices of the "Missouri Model," specifically: (1) small and non-prisonlike facilities, close to home; (2) individual care within a group treatment model; (3) safety through relationships and supervision, not correctional coercion; (4) building skills for success; (5) families as partners; and (6) focus on aftercare.
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Indiana Department of Corrections Announces Closure of Northeast Juvenile Correctional Facility, Press Release, May 29, 2010
Tags: Indiana | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Reports
The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) shut down the Northeast Indiana Juvenile Correctional Facility on May 29, 2010 due to dramatic reductions in commitments to the facility—from a peak of over 100 youth in 2008/2009 to approximately 45 youth in May 2010. IDOC has worked closely with the juvenile courts to establish appropriate community-based diversion programs aimed at reducing commitments to secure confinement. Through these efforts, the overall juvenile population in IDOC facilities has been reduced from over 1,400 youth in July 2004 to approximately 750 youth in May 2010. IDOC estimates that it will realize approximately $4 million in annual savings from the closure of the Northeast Indiana Juvenile Correctional Facility.
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Santa Clara County, California Limits Detention of Young Children, May 11, 2010
Tags: California | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
On May 11, 2010, the Board of Supervisors in Santa Clara County, California unanimously approved a new policy discouraging the detention of children under the age of 13. The Board hopes that the policy will encourage judges to send children to alternative settings, such as home-based supervision, intensive foster care, and community-based treatment centers.
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Santa Clara County, California Probation Report on Detention of Young Children, May 11, 2010
Tags: California | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Reports
On May 11, 2010, the Board of Supervisors in Santa Clara County, California unanimously approved a new policy discouraging the detention of children under the age of 13. The Board hopes that the policy will encourage judges to send children to alternative settings, such as home-based supervision, intensive foster care, and community-based treatment centers.
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Santa Clara County, California Juvenile Justice Commission Report on Detention of Young Children, April 8, 2010
Tags: California | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Reports
On May 11, 2010, the Board of Supervisors in Santa Clara County, California unanimously approved a new policy discouraging the detention of children under the age of 13. The Board hopes that the policy will encourage judges to send children to alternative settings, such as home-based supervision, intensive foster care, and community-based treatment centers.
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Mississippi Limits Use of Secure Confinement for Nonviolent Offenses, S.B. 2984
Tags: Mississippi | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
Building on H.B. 1494 from 2009, Mississippi law now provides that no child who has been adjudicated delinquent for a nonviolent felony or fewer than three misdemeanors may be committed to the state training school. The legislation encourages placement in the least restrictive environment for those youth committed to the state Division of Youth Services. The law will downsize the Oakley Training School and help ensure that youth who commit low-level offenses are not imprisoned.
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Pathways to Desistance: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Adolescent Offenders Teleconference Audio Recording, Professor Edward P. Mulvey
Tags: Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Presentations
Professor Mulvey describes the most recent findings of a longitudinal study of serious youth offenders that shows that community-based alternatives are as effective as institutional care.
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Pathways to Desistance: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Adolescent Offenders Teleconference Presentation
Tags: Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization
Professor Mulvey describes the most recent findings of a longitudinal study of serious youth offenders that shows that community-based alternatives are as effective as institutional care.
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Curbing Re-Arrest for Serious Offenses: Community-Based Alternatives for Youth as Effective as Institutional Placements
Tags: Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | NJJN Publications
Brief summarizing findings from a longitudinal study on serious youth offenders ("Research on Pathways to Desistance," Models for Change, December 2009) that offer guidance for state policymakers concerned with over-reliance on expensive youth incarceration. Research demonstrates that incarceration provides no public safety benefit over community-based supervision.
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Research on Pathways to Desistance, Research Update Created for the Fourth Annual Models for Change Working Conference
Tags: Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Research
Summary of research suggesting that community-based options may be more effective than incarceration for some youth convicted of serious offenses.
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New Research Shows Community-Based Alternatives are Effective in Curbing Re-arrest in Youth with Serious Offenses
Tags: Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Research
Summary of research suggesting that community-based options may be more effective than incarceration for some youth convicted of serious offenses.
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Louisiana Converts Juvenile Institution into Regional Treatment Facility, S.B. 302
Tags: Louisiana | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
The Jetson Center for Youth, closed as a juvenile correctional facility, is being converted into a regional treatment facility. Legislation sets forth requirements for the operation of the treatment facility, including overall design aligned with national best practices. The facility must have small dorms that house no more than 12 youth, and be limited to 99 youth total. The legislation mandates that the facility have a therapeutic setting, use standardized and validated risk/need assessments, use evidence-based programs, focus on staff development, involve family members, continuously evaluate its programs, and have a staff-to-youth ratio consistent with positive behavior models.
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Redeploy Illinois Becomes Permanent Initiative and Expands Across State, S.B. 1013
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | General System Reform | Legislation
In April 2009, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law to convert Redeploy Illinois from a pilot program to a permanent initiative that will be accessible to approximately 70 counties that were previously excluded because of their low numbers of delinquent youth. Redeploy Illinois reallocates state funds from juvenile correctional confinement to local jurisdictions in order to establish a continuum of local, community-based sanctions and treatment alternatives for youth offenders.
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Costs of Confinement: Why Good Juvenile Justice Policies Make Good Fiscal Sense, Justice Policy Institute
Tags: Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Report showing that states could save money, preserve public safety, and improve life outcomes for youth by redirecting the money to community-based alternatives.
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Keeping Our Kids at Home: Expanding Community-Based Facilities for Adjudicated Youth, Texas Public Policy Foundation
Tags: Texas | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Reports
Report examines existing barriers to the establishment of community-based options for system-involved youth.
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Mississippi Prohibits Sending Nonviolent, First-Time Juvenile Offenders to Training School Without Specific Finding from the Court, H.B. 1494
Tags: Mississippi | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
Mississippi prohibits courts from sending first-time nonviolent juvenile offenders or youth under the age of 10 to the state training school without first making a specific finding of fact by a preponderance of the evidence. The court must assess "what is in the best rehabilitative interest of the child and the public safety of communities and that there is no reasonable alternative to a non-secure setting and therefore secure commitment is appropriate." The law also requires the court to make a similar finding of fact by a preponderance of the evidence before it sends a first-time nonviolent youth offender to detention for more than 90 days.
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Senate Bill 94 Reference Manual, Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Youth Corrections, January 2009
Tags: Colorado | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Administrative/Regulatory Policies
Bed caps on detention originated from S.B. 94 in 1991; the state periodically revises the caps as the utilization rate declines. When the cap is exceeded, the state must do an emergency release. The bed reduction also allows the legislature to reduce corresponding costs. S.B. 94 also created a Juvenile Services Fund to fund local alternatives to incarceration.
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Redeploy Illinois Annual Report: Implementation and Impact, Legislative Report
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Report summarizing Redeploy Illinois study in which four sites were provided with financial support to deliver comprehensive services in their home communities to youth who might otherwise have been sent to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) with a goal of reducing juvenile commitments by twenty five percent. In its first three years of providing services, approximately 400 youth residing in the pilot site communities were diverted from commitment to the IDJJ.
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Redeploy Illinois Summary Sheet
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Summary of Redeploy Illinois program whose purpose is to create financial incentives to keep youth in the local community rather than commit them to the Department of Juvenile Justice through community-based alternatives. In the first two years of implementation, the Redeploy Illinois pilot sites, on average, reduced commitments to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) by forty four percent within their communities, or 226 fewer youth equivalent to gross savings of over $11 million in the four sites.
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The Declining Number of Youth in Custody in the Juvenile Justice System, National Council on Crime and Delinquency
Tags: Deinstitutionalization | Reports
Report reviewing data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention from the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement and showing that overall numbers and rates of custody for youth have declined nationwide since 1997. Custody trends by individual states, gender, race/ethnicity, and offense type are available in the report as well.
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Help Closer to Home, New York Times Editorial
Tags: New York | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Media
Newspaper article discussing the need to close unneeded juvenile centers in New York and instead invest the money in community-based programs.
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Louisiana Closes Abusive Jetson Correctional Center for Youth, Louisiana S.B. 749/Act 565
Tags: Louisiana | Deinstitutionalization | Institutional Conditions | Legislation
The Jetson Correctional Center for Youth, the site of widespread violence and the tragic death of a child who was just weeks away from his release, closed June 30, 2009.
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Juvenile Justice in Arkansas: A Long Road to a Promising Future, Paul Kelly, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families
Tags: Arkansas | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Reports
Report urging Arkansas to take advantage of a drop in juvenile crime rates to move from an institution-based system to one that allows youth to be treated for underlying problems in their communities. The report calls on the state to move from incarcerating youth in far-away prisons where their problems may be exacerbated, to treating and preventing their conduct, behavior, and substance-abuse problems in community-based programs and facilities.
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Juvenile Justice Reform in Arkansas: Building a Better Future for Youth, Their Families, and the Community, Pat Arthur and Tim Roche, in Collaboration with the Arkansas Division of Youth Services
Tags: Arkansas | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Reports
Report calling for widespread reform of Arkansas' juvenile justice system. The report finds that many non-violent youthful offenders are being confined simply because there is not an adequate array of community-based interventions available for them and their families. The authors identify factors that lead to over-reliance on secure confinement and make specific recommendations to address each. Additionally, the report identifies specific steps that can be immediately taken to better serve youth and streamline the system.
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Redeploy Illinois: A Good Investment, Juvenile Justice Initiative of Illinois
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Summary of Redeploy Illinois program, whose purpose is to create financial incentives to keep youth in the local community rather than commit them to the Department of Juvenile Justice through community-based alternatives.
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Letter to New York State Assembly re: Facility Closures, New York Juvenile Justice Coalition
Tags: New York | Deinstitutionalization | Reports
Letter urging the State Assembly to close, merge and downsize juvenile facilities. The letter's reasoning includes a minimal impact on jobs, enhancement of public safety, benefits of keeping youth closer to their families, more equitable treatment of African American and Latino youth, and cost savings.
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State Agrees to Close Four Juvenile Facilities: A Partial Yet Significant Victory for New York's Youth, Mishi Faruqee, Children's Defense Fund-New York
Tags: New York | Deinstitutionalization | Reports
Article reviewing facility closures in New York, including information on cost savings and advocacy efforts on behalf of the closures.
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2007 State Spending on Children in DYS Custody, Alabama Youth Justice Coalition
Tags: Alabama | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Map of state spending by county of children incarcerated by the Alabama Department of Youth Services.
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California Closes Juvenile Facilities and Reduces Incarcerated Population, California, S.B. 81/Chapter 175
Tags: California | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
The California Youth Authority (CYA) closed three facilities in accordance with S.B. 81. CYA population was reduced from 2,446 in September 2007 to 1,808 juveniles in September 2008.
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Redeploy Illinois: A Good Investment, Juvenile Justice Initiative of Illinois, FY 2009 Appropriations
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Report summarizing Redeploy Illinois study in which four sites were provided with financial support to deliver comprehensive services in their home communities to youth who might otherwise have been sent to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) with a goal of reducing juvenile commitments by twenty five percent. In the first two years of implementation, the Redeploy Illinois pilot sites, on average, reduced commitments to IDJJ by forty four percent, or 226 fewer youth, thereby saving the state of Illinois millions of dollars.
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Juvenile Prisons: Paying More for Less Safety, Alabama Youth Justice Coalition
Tags: Alabama | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Flyer highlighting the high cost of placing youth in juvenile prisons in Alabama.
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Cost-Effective Youth Corrections: Rationalizing the Fiscal Architecture of Juvenile Justice Systems
Tags: Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Partner Publications
In this report, the Justice Policy Institute shares how states have restructured funding of their juvenile justice systems to keep youth close to their communities, reduce youth incarceration and reduce state spending.
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Vermont Increases Restrictions on Removing Youth from Their Homes, Vermont, H.B. 515
Tags: Vermont | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Legislation
Requires the court after a detention hearing make written findings on whether reasonable efforts were made to prevent the child from being removed from his/her home.
