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Juvenile Facility Staff Responses to Organizational Change

“This report details the effects of juvenile justice facility reform and deinstitutionalization on the ground, drawing from research about facilities in New York. This report seeks to educate policymakers and advocates about the effects of reforms on young people and staff. It examines why some staff members and their unions so strongly resist deinstitutionalization, and what the impact of reform practices and policies are on the individuals who live and work in the facilities” (p. 1). Topics discussed include: the critical role of frontline staff in organizational change; myths surrounding frontline staff; resistance to change greatly due to issues of fairness related to frontline staff; the relationship of violence and control; and the misperception that juvenile facility staff are against rehabilitative change.