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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
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Implementing
Juvenile Justice Reform

THE FEDERAL ROLE

Committee on a Prioritized Plan to Implement a Developmental Approach
in Juvenile Justice Reform

Committee on Law and Justice

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Washington, D.C.

www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS    500 Fifth Street, NW    Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Contract No. 2013-JF-FX-K004 from the U.S. Department of Justice/Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Contract No. 213.0506 from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Contract No. 13-105086-000-USP from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-3: 978-0-309-30347-7
International Standard Book Number-0: 0-309-30347-8

Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2014 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2014). Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Committee on a Prioritized Plan to Implement a Developmental Approach in Juvenile Justice Reform, Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.nationalacademies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
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COMMITTEE ON A PRIORITIZED PLAN TO IMPLEMENT A DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH IN JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM

RICHARD J. BONNIE (Chair), Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, University of Virginia

SAM J. ABED, Maryland Department of Juvenile Services

GRACE BAUER, Justice for Families

KEVIN J. BETHEL, Patrol Operations, Philadelphia Police Department

SANDRA A. GRAHAM, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

MAXWELL GRIFFIN, JR., Child Protection Division, Cook County Juvenile Court

PATRICIA LEE, Juvenile Unit, San Francisco Office of the Public Defender

EDWARD P. MULVEY, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh

ALEX R. PIQUERO, Program in Criminology, School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas

VINCENT SCHIRALDI, New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice

CHERIE TOWNSEND, Consultant, Idabel, Oklahoma

JOHN A. TUELL, Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice, Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps

ARLENE F. LEE, Director

DANIEL E.J. TALMAGE, JR., Study Director

JULIE ANNE SCHUCK, Senior Program Associate

EMILY BACKES, Research Associate

LETICIA GARCILAZO GREEN, Program Assistant (as of July 2014)

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
×

COMMITTEE ON LAW AND JUSTICE

JEREMY TRAVIS (Chair), John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York

RUTH D. PETERSON (Vice Chair), Department of Sociology, Ohio State University

CARL C. BELL, Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, St. Bernard Hospital’s Inpatient Psychiatric Unit, and Jackson Park Hospital’s Family Practice Clinic, Chicago, Illinois

JOHN J. DONOHUE, III, Stanford Law School, Stanford University

MINDY FULLILOVE, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

MARK A.R. KLEIMAN, Department of Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles

GARY LAFREE, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland, College Park

JANET L. LAURITSEN, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri

GLENN LOURY, Department of Economics, Brown University

JAMES P. LYNCH, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland, College Park

CHARLES F. MANSKI, Department of Economics, Northwestern University

DANIEL S. NAGIN, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University

ANNE MORRISON PIEHL, Department of Economics and Program in Criminal Justice, Rutgers University

DANIEL B. PRIETO, Cybersecurity and Technology, U.S. Department of Defense

SUSAN B. SORENSON, School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania

DAVID WEISBURD, Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, George Mason University

CATHY SPATZ WIDOM, Psychology Department, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York

PAUL K. WORMELI, Integrated Justice Information Systems, Ashburn, Virginia

ARLENE LEE, Director

TINA M. LATIMER, Program Coordinator

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
×

Preface

In 2013, Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Development Approach was published by the National Research Council (NRC). In that report, a committee charged with assessing recent initiatives in juvenile justice strongly endorsed a framework of reform based on a scientific understanding of adolescent development. The report was well received within the juvenile justice community and by policy makers in states, localities, and tribal jurisdictions, as well as within the Department of Justice. Many of us who participated on the committee that produced Reforming Juvenile Justice detected a sense of urgency about moving forward after the report was published: “This moment should not be lost,” we were advised.

In this context, we were pleased that the newly appointed administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) initiated a dialogue with the NRC about the possibility of a follow-up study to develop an implementation plan for OJJDP. With the help of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the project was funded in late 2013 and an expedited study began soon thereafter. This report, the product of that study, is designed to provide specific guidance to OJJDP regarding the steps that it should take, both internally and externally, to facilitate juvenile justice reform grounded in knowledge about adolescent development.

As this report explains, the plan is ambitious and OJJDP will need to overcome many impediments in order to achieve it. However, the committee is confident that this plan can be carried out successfully by building on past efforts of OJJDP and current reforms under way in many states—especially if the agency has the political and material support it will need from Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice. It is important for leaders in the Department of Justice and on relevant congressional committees to understand that juvenile justice reform should be seen as a priority for improving the nation’s justice system as well as a key element of the nation’s youth policy.

The committee notes that this report offers, as requested by the OJJDP administrator, an itemized plan of action over the next 3 years, and we applaud the agency’s sense of urgency. We have proposed a 3-year plan because the committee shares the view that we are at a critical moment in juvenile justice reform. Responsibility for propelling juvenile justice reform forward and for sustaining it in the coming decades is the right and appropriate role for the federal government through OJJDP. This must not be seen as a transient priority. It must be seen by Congress and future attorneys general as the preeminent mission for the agency under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
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I wish to express my deep appreciation to the members of the committee for their diligent and dedicated contributions to this study and to the preparation of this report within an expedited time frame. The diverse expertise and experience offered by each member of the committee were indispensable to the formulation of the “prioritized plan” incorporated in this report for implementing a developmental approach in juvenile justice reform.

Richard J. Bonnie, Chair                                            
Committee on a Prioritized Plan to Implement a        
Developmental Approach in Juvenile Justice Reform

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
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Acknowledgments

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Eugene Bardach, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California; Shay Bilchik, Juvenile Justice Reform, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University; Karen S. Cook, Department of Sociology, Stanford University; Hermann Habermann, independent consultant, Arlington, VA; Ned Loughran, Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators, Braintree, MA; George D. Mosee, Jr., Juvenile Division, Philadelphia, PA; Daniel S. Nagin, H.J. Heinz School of Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University; Julie J. Ryan, Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, George Washington University; Marc A. Schindler, Executive Director’s Office, Justice Policy Institute, Washington, DC; Lawrence D. Steinberg, Department of Psychology, Temple University; Juliana Stratton, Executive Director’s Office, Cook County Justice Advisory Council, Chicago, IL; and Joshua Weber, Juvenile Justice, Council of State Governments Justice Center, Bethesda, MD.

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by the monitor, Charles F. Manski (National Academy of Sciences), board of trustees professor of economics, Department of Economics, Northwestern University, and coordinator John E. Rolph, professor emeritus of statistics, University of Southern California. Appointed by the NRC, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

The committee is grateful to the staff of OJJDP as well as the representatives of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for their active participation throughout the study. The committee also recognizes Cheryl Hayes for providing an assessment of the current federal budget to identify funding streams that may be used to support activities for youths involved in the juvenile justice system, and John Wilson, who served as a consultant to the committee, for bringing his wisdom and expertise from 30 years of

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
×

experience at OJJDP to bear on the study. The committee applauds the NRC staff members—Arlene Lee, Daniel Talmage, Julie Schuck, and Emily Backes—for their dedication to the study and to the preparation of this report. We would also like to thank Mary Ghitelman for her administrative support throughout the study process. And finally we thank the executive office reports staff of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, especially Robert Katt (consultant editor), who provided valuable help with editing the report, and Kirsten Sampson Snyder, who managed the report review process. Without the NRC’s guidance and wise counsel, the committee’s job would have been even more difficult if not impossible.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
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Acronyms and Abbreviations

ABA

American Bar Association

BJA

Bureau of Justice Assistance

CIT

Crisis Intervention Team

CJJ

Coalition for Juvenile Justice

COPS

Community Oriented Policing Services

DOJ

U.S. Department of Justice

FACJJ

Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice

GAO

U.S. Government Accountability Office

IACP

International Association of Chiefs of Police

IJA

Institute of Judicial Administration

JABG

Juvenile Accountability Block Grant

JJDPA

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974

NIC

National Institute of Corrections

NRC

National Research Council

NYCDOP

New York City Department of Probation

OJJDP

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

OJP

Office of Justice Programs

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2014. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18753.
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SAG

State Advisory Group

SAMHSA

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

TTA

training and technical assistance

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In the past decade, a number of state, local, and tribal jurisdictions have begun to take significant steps to overhaul their juvenile justice systems - for example, reducing the use of juvenile detention and out-of-home placement, bringing greater attention to racial and ethnic disparities, looking for ways to engage affected families in the process, and raising the age at which juvenile court jurisdiction ends. These changes are the result of heightening awareness of the ineffectiveness of punitive practices and accumulating knowledge about adolescent development. Momentum for reform is growing. However, many more state, local, and tribal jurisdictions need assistance, and practitioners in the juvenile justice field are looking for guidance from the federal government, particularly from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in the Department of Justice.

Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform identifies and prioritizes strategies and policies to effectively facilitate reform of the juvenile justice system and develop an implementation plan for OJJDP. Based on the 2013 report Reforming Juvenile Justice, this report is designed to provide specific guidance to OJJDP regarding the steps that it should take, both internally and externally, to facilitate juvenile justice reform grounded in knowledge about adolescent development. The report identifies seven hallmarks of a developmental approach to juvenile justice to guide system reform: accountability without criminalization, alternatives to justice system involvement, individualized response based on needs and risks, confinement only when necessary for public safety, genuine commitment to fairness, sensitivity to disparate treatment, and family engagement. Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform outlines how these hallmarks should be incorporated into policies and practices within OJJDP, as well as in actions extended to state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to achieve the goals of the juvenile justice system through a developmentally informed approach.

This report sets forth a detailed and prioritized strategic plan for the federal government to support and facilitate developmentally oriented juvenile justice reform. The pivotal component of the plan is to strengthen the role, capacity, and commitment of OJJDP, the lead federal agency in the field. By carrying out the recommendations of Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform, the federal government will both reaffirm and advance the promise of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.

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