The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has highlighted its top priorities for 2010. I was excited to see that reentry was high on the list, a priority supported by the Youth Reentry Task Force’s recent report, “Back on Track: Supporting Youth Reentry from Out-of-Home Placement to the Community.”

As a member of this national task force, I think the goal of keeping youth connected to their families and communities is worth emphasizing. Working with young people’s families seems intuitive, but many facilities struggle with supporting and helping maintain those ties. The Youth Reentry Task Force, while recognizing the challenges involved with family reunification, values this goal and the role social networks play when a young person returns to the community. One way to help meet this goal is through programs that provide in-home individual and family counseling, like the work of Vera’s demonstration project, Adolescent Portable Therapy.

You can read more about OJJDP’s position on youth reentry here. I will report back with future news from the Youth Reentry Task Force.