Pathways to Juvenile Detention Reform (Set)

• NCJ Number: 187574
• Author(s): Rochelle Stanfield; David Steinhart; Kathleen Feely; Frank Orlando; Paul DeMuro; D. A. Henry; Deborah Busch; Robert G. Schwartz; Donna M. Bishop; Pamala L. Griset
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 480 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Sale Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Instructional Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Set includes (10) journals; for documents in the series, see NCJ-187575-80, 187582, 187584, and 187586-87.

Annotation

This series of reports describes the activities of and lessons learned from the five sites involved in the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI), which had the objectives of reducing overcrowding in juvenile detention facilities and improving detention conditions without compromising public safety and the rate of appearances in court.

Abstract

The first report provides an overview of the JDAI, as it reviews the history of the project, the challenge of substituting community-based alternatives for confinement in juvenile detention centers, and the activities and preliminary outcome findings for the three sites that have completed their grant programs (Cook County, Ill.; Multnomah County, Ore.; and Sacramento County, Calif.). The second report focuses on planning for juvenile detention reforms through a structured approach, as was practiced in JDAI sites. It provides guiding principles for planning such reform and describes the five stages of planning. This report is followed by one that addresses the importance and practice of collaboration and leadership in juvenile detention reform. Each JDAI site was required to establish a collaborative composed of stakeholders with an interest in juvenile detention. This report describes how this was done. A report on effective admissions policies and practices for juvenile detention presents principles for and elements of a structured, objective admissions process, with attention to lessons learned from the JDAI sites and how to get started in the development of effective admissions policies and practices. Principles and procedures for planning and implementing community-based alternatives to secure detention are considered in another report, followed by a report that presents principles and practices for reducing unnecessary delay in juvenile case processing. Remaining reports draw on JDAI experiences in presenting principles and practices for the role of data and information in detention reform; strategies for handling difficult populations in detention policies and practices; how to promote and sustain detention reforms; and lessons from the Florida Detention Initiative, which was the predecessor to the JDAI. The reports contain chapter notes, tables and figures, and resource lists.