The Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (JJIE) recently released a new column, authored by John Tuell (Executive Director, RFK National Resource Center) and Kari Harp (Project Director, RFK National Resource Center) on probation system reform.
Letting Go of What Doesn’t Work for Juvenile Probation, Embracing What Does
During the most recent year for which national data is available, juvenile probation oversaw community supervision of more than 500,000 youth. While this number includes diversion, informal adjustment and deferred adjudication cases, still more than 250,000 youth are placed on formal probation status in lieu of secure placement in a residential treatment or correctional alternative.
In the best practice methodology, juvenile probation combines monitoring and oversight for compliance with court-ordered conditions plus targeted responses to priority areas of youth and family behaviors that promote positive behavior change. In this approach, juvenile probation serves to ameliorate the risk for reoffending, thereby improving public safety while simultaneously increasing the chances that youth will develop improved cognitive behavioral skills and abilities that will interrupt their trajectory into adult criminality.
Read more:
jjie.org/letting-go-of-what-doesnt-work-for-juvenile-probation-embracing-what-does/262837/
To learn more about the RFK National Resource Center’s Probation System Reform work, please visit: rfknrcjj.org/our-work/probation-system-review/