NCJ Number
250735
Date Published
September 2017
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes the presentations and discussions of the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Justice-Involved Young Adults Research Planning Meeting, which was held December 12, 2016.
Abstract
In the welcoming and opening comments Howard Spivak, NIJ's Principal Deputy Director, notes that justice-involved young adults are a high priority for the NIJ, and it has developed a relatively new agenda in this area. Brent Cohen, Senior advisor to the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), notes the importance of bringing expertise to work with justice-involved young adults. In the section on "Ground Rules and Introductions," NIJ's Carrie Mulford explains how the issue of justice-involved young adults came to NIJ's attention through a 2008 study group and resulting book. Other relevant NIJ activities in this area are also mentioned. The meeting then proceeded to presentations and discussions in five areas: 1) linking developmental research to practice; 2) life course perspective; 3) system responses; 4) evaluation; and 5) legislation and policy. The session on linking developmental research to practice focused on young-adult brain development and neuroscience, as well as psychological and social development. The session on life course perspective addressed what is known and unknown about the importance of life transitions for justice-involved young adults. The area of system responses considered criminal justice policies and practices that address the needs of justice-involved young adults. Presentations and discussions on evaluation emphasize the importance of evaluation research in developing evidence-based policies and practices for managing justice-involved young adults. Presentations and discussions of legislation and policy address the importance of monitoring and providing input to legislation to ensure that it reflects evidence-based research on the developmental needs of high-risk and justice-involved young adults.