NCJ Number
152573
Date Published
Unknown
Length
21 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this guide is to help Ohio's juvenile courts and dispute resolution providers work together to meet the goals of the Reclaim Ohio Program.
Abstract
The primary goal of Reclaim Ohio is to reduce commitments of juvenile offenders to the Ohio Department of Youth Services by assisting juvenile court and probation staff in increasing the use of community-based alternatives to incarceration. This guide provides an overview of the benefits of mediation and conflict management training/education for young offenders. It also describes the variety of conflict management (CM) programs and illustrates how CM programs are used by Ohio juvenile courts. Recommendations are presented for how courts can best use CM services and lists current Ohio CM programs linked with juvenile courts. The guide recommends that before beginning a court- operated program, program planners should assess the community's conflict management resources. Other recommendations are that planners be clear about goals for the program and that quality training be provided for the handling of juvenile-juvenile and juvenile-adult disputes. Another recommendation is that the CM project be designed to include a test period to work out any problems. The final recommendation is that program results be monitored and evaluated.