Employment and Training for Court-Involved Youth

• NCJ Number: 182787
• Date Published: November 2000
• Length: 106 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Issue Overview

Annotation

This report presents a compendium of the opinions and concerns of an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention task force about current conditions that affect court-involved youth and identifies the most promising strategies for connecting court-involved youth to the labor market.

Abstract

Recognizing the link between joblessness and crime and between job preparation and earnings, the task force examined labor market issues, employment-centered programs, and system-level requirements. A major concern was the impact of negative perceptions about juvenile offenders in communities, schools, and the labor market on successful workplace integration. The task force also focused on service fragmentation, competition for funding, categorical funding, and the ability of systems to use resources collaboratively. The first chapter of the report provides information about court-involved youth and the challenges in developing programs and systems that meet the needs of court-involved youth. The second chapter contains information about the structure of the juvenile justice system, while the third chapter contains information on the structure of the workforce development system. The fourth chapter overviews youth and the labor market and includes a discussion of labor market opportunities and workforce development issues. The fifth chapter suggests strategies for linking youth in juvenile justice system programs to the labor market and provides an overview of the most salient issues related to youth development, exemplary practices that can be adapted from programs serving at-risk youth, and information about promising programs currently serving court-involved youth. The sixth chapter summarizes strengths and weaknesses of the juvenile justice, workforce development, education, social service, community-based support, and labor market systems that affect service delivery. The seventh chapter makes recommendations to assist policymakers in more effectively meeting the needs of court-involved youth for workforce preparation. Eight appendixes present supplemental information and resources relevant to the employment and training of court-involved youth.