NCJ Number
236081
Date Published
September 2011
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This report describes three strategies which have proven useful for instituting changes to the juvenile justice system.
Abstract
This report examines three strategies implemented in several States in the 1990s that have proven successful at reforming the juvenile justice system. In the 1960s and the 1970s, three States, California, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, reacted to the increasing costs of incarcerating juveniles and instituted innovative policies to reduce the demand for expensive State confinement and increase the number of young offenders being supervised in their own communities. In the 1990s, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon implemented similar strategies to reform their State's juvenile justice system. This report examines the three models of reform used by these States: resolution models, reinvestment models, and realignment models. Resolution models rely on leadership, managerial influence, and will power to reduce reliance on secure facilities and move offenders into community-based programs and smaller home-like settings. Reinvestment models use financial incentives to encourage local and State governments to decrease funding for confinement of young offenders and increase funding for community-based programs. Realignment models focus on reconfiguring organizations and systems on a permanent basis. The report notes that while resolution and reinvestment models can be successful at instituting and sustaining reforms over the long term, changes made through realignment models are less likely to be reversed by future policymakers. Examples of successful implementation of each model are included in the report. References