An article in the new issue of The Link, a publication of the Child Welfare League of America, chronicles the development of the Family Justice Program’s Juvenile Relational Inquiry Tool. The Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS) was one of the key agencies from three states that helped develop the tool, a list of questions for young people about their families and social supports.
We are now working with ODYS to help implement the tool and look forward to furthering the discussion about effective strategies to engage families and improve outcomes for youth leaving juvenile justice facilities.
Here’s a short excerpt from the article “Integrating Family-Focused Approaches in Juvenile Justice Reform” by Ryan Shanahan, senior program associate at Vera’s Family Justice Program:

“Staff know that families play a role in a young person’s successful transition back to the community. After training from Family Justice, staff generated ideas about encouraging family involvement and expressed commitment to making greater efforts to stay in contact with family.”