Juvenile Justice

This letter to Chief State School Officers and State Attorneys General, issued by Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, highlights the importance of supporting youth in juvenile justice facilities. The letter also describes how federal funding can support improved services and indicates future work will involve clarifying the components of high-quality correctional education. 

This paper discusses how risk assessment tools for adolescents are constructed and used, as well as challenges for using them.

This strategic planning tool developed by the OJJDP helps communities  assess the severity of their gang problems and plan their responses. The tools provided include: a community resource inventory to record community assets such as programs and services; planning and implementation questions to help assess what prevention and intervention programs match with their needs; descriptions of risk factors categorized by age and domain (individual, family, etc.); and a program matrix that lists appropriate programs and their descriptions.

• Trauma Among Girls in the Juvenile Justice System (PDF, 11 pages)
  

• Evidence-Informed Interventions for Posttraumatic Stress Problems with Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System (PDF, 14 pages)
  

This Bulletin provides results from expermental analyses of the Intensive Aftercare Program in four sites.

The Department of Labor's Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (RExO) Program targets court-involved youth, young adults, and adult ex-offenders through a variety of discretionary grant awards. Organizations partner with juvenile and adult justice systems to assist in providing employment and training to this population of individuals who may find it difficult to obtain employment or training without additional assistance. Projects support a comprehensive strategy for serving youth in a local area to which many are returning from juvenile correctional or detention facilities.

This factsheet details the creation and implementation of the Intensive Aftercare Program (IAP), designed to help youthful offenders.

In May 2010, the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University released the monograph ”Addressing the Unmet Educational Needs of Children and Youth in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems” (PDF, 74 pages), which examines a number of topics relevant to the education and experiences of youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.