Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Aftercare Services
This Bulletin examines aftercare services that provide youth with comprehensive health, mental health, education, family, and vocational services upon their release from the juvenile justice system.
Comprehensive Community Initiatives Tools for Feds
cciToolsforFeds.org provides information to federal staff to help them design, implement and evaluate comprehensive community initiatives. This ToolKit aims to help federal staff align funding, management, evaluation, and technical assistance to ensure that the focus on systems change remains front and center as they partner with communities in the work of building healthy and capable children, youth, and families.
Juvenile Justice Journal, Vol. VII, No. 1 (Mental Health Issue)
This issue discusses incarcerated youth with mental health issues, including challenges and solutions.
OJJDP Safe Start Center
The Safe Start communities are funded competitively through OJJDP, and work to coordinate the efforts of service providers in key areas, such as early childhood education, health, child welfare, substance abuse prevention and intervention, domestic violence, law enforcement, and the courts to address the needs of children exposed to violence.
PTSD, Trauma, and Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders in Detained Youth
Developed by the Department of Justice as part of the ongoing Beyond Detention series, this bulletin analyzes data from the Northwestern Juvenile project, a longitudinal study of youth detained at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago. The prevalence of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) seen among the juveniles studied is discussed, as well as the tendency for PTSD and other psychiatric disorders to co-occur in this population.
Special Education and the Juvenile Justice System
The Bulletin summarizes the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and analyzes their relevance to the juvenile justice process-from intake and initial interview to institutional placement and secure confinement.
The Northwestern Juvenile Project: Overview
This bulletin provides an overview of the Northwestern Juvenile Project, the first large-scale, prospective longitudinal study of drug, alcohol, and psychiatric disorders in a diverse sample of juvenile detainees.
Underage Drinking Training Center
(UDET) Center is to create healthier and safer environments in States, local communities, and Federal entities engage in environmental prevention and enforcement practices that proactively and effectively limit youth access to alcohol and significantly reduce harmful consequences associated with alcohol use by underage youth
Tribal Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center
This resource provides technical assistance to DOJ's Tribal Youth Program.
Tribal Justice and Safety
The site features the latest announcements, press releases, speeches and information regarding Department of Justice initiatives in tribal communities. It also provides comprehensive resources available through the Office of Tribal Justice and the Department's grant-making divisions: the Office of Justice Programs, Community Oriented Policing Services and the Office on Violence Against Women. Access to the Department's Combined Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS) is also available on the Web site.
Child Trauma and its Effects: Implications for Police
This article describes child trauma and the negative impact it can have on development, and the implications this has for police, especially for those working in poor communities of color. The article also suggests police be trained on the high prevalence of severe childhood trauma in such communities, its effects on the developing child, and its impact on adolescent and adult functioning to increase their capacity to address this major public mental health issue.
OJJDP Releases Research on Youth's Mental Health Needs and Long-Term Outcomes after Detention
OJJDP released four research bulletins based on findings from the Northwestern Juvenile Project, which investigates the mental health needs and long-term outcomes of juvenile detainees:
- Detained Youth Processed in Juvenile and Adult Court: Psychiatric Disorders and Mental Health Needs (PDF, 16 pages)
- Perceived Barriers to Mental Health Services Among Detained Youth (PDF, 12 pages)
- Psychiatric Disorders in Youth After Detention (PDF, 20 pages)
- Violent Death in Delinquent Youth After Detention (PDF, 14 pages)
Toolkit: Helping Victims of Mass Violence & Terrorism
This toolkit aims to help communities prepare for and respond to victims of mass violence and terrorism in the most timely, effective, and compassionate manner possible. Professionals who are responsible for planning and responding to incidents of mass violence and terrorism can use this toolkit to develop a victim assistance plan, bring key partners together to develop or continue the use of a plan, and establish and implement victim assistance protocols.
Report: Surviving the Streets of New York: Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex
The Urban Institute released a report (PDF, 94 pages), supported by OJJDP, on involvement in the juvenile justice, criminal justice, and child welfare systems and youth engaging in survival sex who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ); young men who have sex with men (YMSM); and young women who have sex with woman (YWSW). The report offers practice and policy recommendations to repurpose law enforcement-based responses to youth engaged in survival sex and services to meet their needs without system involvement.
Report: Recommendations of the LGBT Subcommittee: Advancing the Reform Process for LGBQ/GNCT Youth in the Juvenile Justice System
This report (PDF, 11 pages) summarizes the recommendations of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Subcommittee of the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice to OJJDP on strategies to advance juvenile justice reform for lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning/gender nonconforming, transgender (LGBQ/GNCT) youth. The recommendations are grouped into four categories:
- Policy and program development,
- Training and technical assistance,
- Data collection and research, and
- Federal LGBT juvenile justice coordination.
Resource: Youths with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in the Juvenile Justice System
This literature review (PDF, 10 pages) summarizes research on intellectual and developmental disabilities of youths who are at risk of or who have come into contact with the juvenile justice system. Professionals working in juvenile justice settings can use this resource to better understand the challenges facing young people. Policymakers can also use the review to inform federal policies that pertain to the treatment of youths with disabilities in the juvenile justice system.
Resource: Arts-Based Programs and Arts Therapies Literature Review
This literature review (PDF, 9 pages) explores recent research on arts-based programs and arts therapies for at-risk, justice-involved, and traumatized youth. It describes the theoretical foundation that supports the use of these therapies, outcome evidence found in the literature, and model program descriptions. Youth-serving professionals can use this resource to learn about programs that have demonstrated positive impacts on youth. Researchers can use it to understand the current state of research on this topic and to explore how future studies can address how and in which optimal conditions the arts can directly impact youth.
Resource: Arts-Based Programs and Arts Therapies Webpage
This webpage from the Model Programs Guide provides summaries and ratings of arts-based programs and arts therapies for at-risk, justice-involved, and traumatized or victimized youth. Youth-serving professionals and organizations can use this information when looking for interventions to implement.
Resource: Strategies to Build Family and Youth Engagement to Keep Kids in School
This podcast series was produced by the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice with OJJDP’s School-Justice Partnership Program. It explores the challenges that parents and other caregivers of youth with behavioral health needs face regarding school, and how effective family and youth engagement can help overcome these challenges.