NCJ Number
208954
Date Published
2005
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses the juvenile justice reform efforts that were part of a multi-million dollar, 5-year, five-site experiment sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Abstract
The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) was designed to reform local juvenile detention systems by introducing rational alternatives to juvenile reform. As rates of juvenile detention skyrocketed across the United States, research into these detentions was revealing the irrational nature of the juvenile detention system. A lawsuit in Broward County, FL, that dealt with illegal overcrowding at the juvenile detention center was the jolt necessary to encourage major juvenile detention reform in the county. The JDAI initiative grew out of the successful juvenile detention alternatives that were created in Broward County. The five sites chosen for the reform initiative were Cook County (Chicago), IL, Sacramento County, CA, Multnomah County (Portland), OR, Milwaukee County, WI, and New York City. Each site was required to make substantial, system-wide changes that were difficult to undertake, complicated to execute, and difficult to sustain, especially politically. The reform efforts were so difficult that only three sites remained at the close of the initiative; but within those three sites, the reform efforts have been successful and have been sustained as part of the regular juvenile justice budgets and procedures. One of the specific objectives of the JDAI reform efforts was the implementation of community-based alternatives to juvenile confinement in detention centers. This type of reform relied on a rational approach to juvenile justice, when local governments have grown accustomed to acting through the public’s fear of dangerous juvenile offenders. Some of the particular obstacles faced by each site are described, as are the particular successes of each site. In the three sites that concluded the initiative, juvenile detention rates have plummeted, with no corresponding increase in juvenile crime rates. In closing it is noted that one of the crucial elements of successful juvenile justice reform is explaining the reforms to the public. Exhibits