NCJ Number
240201
Date Published
2011
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Given that too many youth are unnecessarily or inappropriately placed in juvenile detention centers, this guidebook assists county officials in the development and implementation of community-based alternatives to juvenile detention.
Abstract
After noting juvenile detention's adverse consequence for youth, its failure to enhance public safety and its financial cost to the county, this guidebook emphasizes the need to develop effective alternatives to juvenile detention, a need that is being addressed by the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI). The JDAI allows counties to quickly identify how to provide the appropriate supervision, support, and public health services (when needed) to youth who are involved with the juvenile justice system. County officials can initiate an analysis of the detention system that determines which youth are placed in secure detention. Information gained from this analysis may reveal gaps or overlapping services, determine the inefficiencies and high costs associated with the operation of detention systems, and reveal the community-based services that promise to help rather than punish youth who have engaged in antisocial and problem behaviors. JDAI pilot sites have received the technical assistance and expert guidance needed to engage in the development of alternatives to detention. This is done through the following eight core strategies: collaboration, the collection and use of data, objective admissions screening, new or enhanced non-secure alternative to detention, case-processing reforms, flexible policies and practices for dealing with "special" detention cases, persistent and committed attention to combating racial disparities, and intensive monitoring of confinement conditions for youth. A separate section of the guidebook focuses on the role of county elected officials in these efforts. The activities and achievements of the JDAI pilot sites are presented. Figures, list of resources and notes