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Latest Developments
- Download an overview of the Center on Youth Justice’s work and services.
- Vera researchers recently completed an exploratory descriptive study of New York City’s Family Assessment Program (FAP) as a follow-up to a preliminary assessment of the program. The study examined the effects of FAP on the families it serves, and results suggest that FAP is indeed helping them. Taken together, these two studies underscore the importance of immediate crisis response and family-focused services for status offenders. Click here to download and read the full version.
- The state of Connecticut signed into law a legislative proposal to return 16- and 17-year-olds to the jurisdiction of juvenile court. The law formally takes effect on July 1, 2009, and will leave North Carolina and New York as the only states that try 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. The law's implementation plan, advanced by the General Assembly’s Juvenile Jurisdiction Planning and Implementation Committee, received project management and support from Vera's Center on Youth Justice and played an instrumental role in the bill’s passing. Formal legislation, SB1196 and HB7246, was originally introduced in February 2007.
- The MacArthur Foundation has invited Vera’s Center on Youth Justice to participate in its Models for Change initiative. In particular, the Center will serve as a member of the National Resource Bank (NRB), which is composed of prominent juvenile justice organizations and experts from around the country. As a part of the initiative, Vera will first oversee a statewide practice assessment of the status offender system in Louisiana.
- Center on Youth Justice researchers are launching an evaluation to assess the effectiveness of Vera's Adolescent Portable Therapy (APT) program with youth in New York City’s Family Assessment Program (FAP). Overseen by the Administration for Children’s Services, FAP is the city’s new approach to intake and assessment for status offenders. As part of the study, 220 families will be randomly assigned to a treatment group and a control group. Outcomes will be compared in the areas of mental health, substance use, family functioning, and out-of-home placements.
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Overview
Vera's Center on Youth Justice provides support to state and local governments interested in improving and reforming their juvenile justice systems. By providing an integrated mix of technical assistance, research, and planning services, the Center on Youth Justice is uniquely positioned to enhance rational decision-making in juvenile justice processes and support system reforms that deinstitutionalize court-involved youth while ensuring public safety. The core elements of our work are research and data analysis, facilitated strategic planning, and planning and demonstrating solutions—each of which is described below.
Research and Data Analysis: Center staff help government by designing and distributing data requests and developing and validating standardized assessment tools. We also analyze system and administrative data, conduct program and process evaluations, and communicate our research findings to policymakers in an accessible fashion. Some examples of our work in this area include:
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working with New York City stakeholders to develop and validate a detention risk assessment instrument that will gauge the level of risk a youth presents in re-offending or failing to appear in court during the duration of a court proceeding, and
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evaluating whether the city's approach to intake and assessment for status offenders—youth who are not in trouble with the law but who chronically misbehave—is helping the kids and families it serves. This evaluation is a continuation of an earlier study conducted by the Center that resulted in the report, A Study of New York City's Family Assessment Program
Facilitated Strategic Planning: The Center on Youth Justice supports the work of local steering committees or statewide task forces charged with developing or implementing targeted juvenile justice system reforms. Center staff play an ongoing role by working with officials to set manageable benchmarks and agendas, facilitating meetings, and structuring a productive process for reform. We often invite successful practitioners—our Associates—to share their experiences developing and implementing similar reforms in their own jurisdictions. For example:
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New York State's Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) has contracted with the Center to offer a program geared toward reducing reliance on detention for court-involved youth, shortening detention lengths of stay, and providing more sound outcomes for young people and their families in the community. As part of this project, we are providing strategic planning assistance to three upstate New York counties—Onondaga (Syracuse), Erie (Buffalo) and Albany—and New York City.
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The Center is convening and facilitating a task force responsible for developing statewide system indicators to inform local juvenile justice planning in New York State.
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The Center is providing technical assistance to New York City's Administration for Children's Services regarding the implementation of a new initiative that provides alternative-to-placement programs for delinquent youth.
Planning and Demonstrating Solutions: In partnership with government, we plan and develop projects that demonstrate innovative solutions to problems in the juvenile justice system. Vera has three ongoing juvenile justice demonstrations—Adolescent Portable Therapy (APT), Esperanza and the Adolescent Reentry Initiative (ARI)—and Center staff are currently planning new innovations. For example, in collaboration with OCFS and New York City's Criminal Justice Coordinator's Office, Vera is planning a new demonstration project that will strive to prevent inappropriate reliance on juvenile detention; ensure detention decisions are based on a rational, evidence-based assessment instrument; and confirm youth who are not detained appear in court and do not re-offend during the duration of their petition.
[ last modified 3/20/2008 1:44:20 PM ] |
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