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Juvenile justice

While similar to that of the adult criminal justice system in many ways—processes include arrest, detainment, petitions, hearings, adjudications, dispositions, placement, probation, and reentry—the juvenile justice process operates according to the premise that youth are fundamentally different from adults, both in terms of level of responsibility and potential for rehabilitation. The primary goals of the juvenile justice system, in addition to maintaining public safety, are skill development, habilitation, rehabilitation, addressing treatment needs, and successful reintegration of youth into the community.

There are no NIC products associated with this term at this time.

  • Implementing Evidence-Based Juvenile Justice Reforms: Demonstration Sites in OJJDP’s Juvenile Justice Reform and Reinvestment Initiative (2017)

    At the end of 2012, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) launched the Juvenile Justice Reform and Reinvestment Initiat

  • Strengthening Our Future: Key Elements to Developing a Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice Diversion Program for Youth with Behavioral Health Conditions (2016)

    This report is intended to offer a description of a trauma-informed juvenile justice diversion approach with examples of how some states are beginning to address and implement trauma-informed systems of care for youth and their families.
  • From Evidence-Based Practices to a Comprehensive Intervention Model for High-Risk Young Men: The Story of Roca (2017)

    Researchers of criminal behavior are taking a more data-driven approach to community corrections.

  • Raising the Age: Shifting to a Safer and More Effective Juvenile Justice System

    This report will explore the process states took to raise their age of juvenile jurisdiction, and show how acts of legislation were part of a proce

  • Raising the Bar: State Trends in Keeping Youth Out of Adult Courts (2015-2017)

    This report looks at reforms made by states to keep children out of the adult criminal justice system.

  • Raise the Age: A Curated Collection of Links (2018)

    In these records you will find the most recent and the most authoritative articles on the topics, people and events that are shaping the criminal j

  • Scientific Support for Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility (2017)

    This report summarizes psychological and neuroscientific evidence from 26 peer-reviewed studies.

  • Should the Science of Adolescent Brain Development Inform Legal Policy? (2015)

    Whether the revelation that the adolescent brain may be less mature than scientists had previously thought is ultimately a good thing, a bad thing,

  • Juvenile Justice Policy and Practice: A Developmental Perspective

    Our aim in this essay is to examine the behavioral and neuroscience evidence that supports developmental immaturity of youthful offenders.

  • Arrested Development: Adolescent Development & Juvenile Justice (2016)

    A 9th grader charged with assault for a spitball. A 12 year old sentenced to life in prison.

  • When Does a Juvenile Become an Adult? Implications for Law and Policy (2016)

    In this Article, we summarize recent behavioral and neural findings on cognitive capacity in young adults (eighteen to twenty-one) and highlight se

  • Developmental Reform in Juvenile Justice: Translating the Science of Adolescent Development to Sustainable Best Practice (2017)

    This publication explains why results from adolescent brain development studies in combination with other research that applies the foundation of t

  • Statewide Risk Assessment in Juvenile Probation (2014)

    This is the first thorough systematic scan of the U.S.

  • OJJDP MPG Literature Review: Risk/Needs Assessments for Youths (2015)

    This publication covers: risk and needs assessments limitations, definitions, theoretical foundation, two approaches to administering risk/needs as

  • Accuracy and Fairness for Juvenile Justice Risks Assessments (2017)

    Risk assessment algorithms used in criminal justice settings are often said to introduce “bias”.

  • Key Fact: Youth in the Justice System (2016)

    Statistics are organized according to: youth crime; youth in the juvenile justice system--(juvenile court system, referral, and adjudication; juve

  • Easy Access to State and County Juvenile Court Case Counts (EZACO)

    EZACO gives users quick access to State and county juvenile court case counts for delinquency, status offense, and dependency cases.

  • Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics (EZAJCS)

    EZAJCS was developed to facilitate independent analysis of national estimates of delinquency cases processed by the nation's juvenile courts.

  • Easy Access to Juvenile Populations (EZAPOP)

    EZAPOP provides access to National, State, and County level population data detailed by age, sex, race, and ethnicity.

  • Juvenile Standards Documentation Requirements

    This document is meant to assist agencies and facilities in their PREA compliance efforts.

  • Juvenile Facility Standards: United States Department of Justice Final Rule: National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape Under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

    This Standard is divided into these sections: Prevention Planning, Responsive Planning, Training and Education, Screening for Risk of Sexual Victim

  • BJS Juveniles

    This website provides access to all reports released by the BJS related to juveniles involved in the justice system.

  • The Racial and Ethnic Disparities Reduction Practice Manual (2016)

    This Practice Manual [the RED Practice Manual] is an effort to provide practical, concrete strategies for jurisdictions to use to reduce racial and

  • Identifying Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems through Data Collection [Webinar] (2016)

    This [90 minute] webinar discusses how data can be used to help identify racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile and criminal justice systems

  • Unbalanced Youth Justice (2018)

    To help you better understand racial and ethnic disparities and how juvenile justice is being administered in your county, state, and nationwide, B

  • Model Indian Juvenile Code, 2016 Revision (2016)

    Too many tribal juvenile codes are nearly indistinguishable from adult criminal codes.

  • Repairing the Breach: A Brief History of Youth of Color in the Justice System (2015)

    This publication covers: the period of first contact and youth of color; the clash over family structure with Northern tribes; Black child during t

  • Reducing Harms to Boys and Young Men of Color from Criminal Justice System Involvement (2015)

    Boys and young men of color are overrepresented in all aspects of the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems, at considerable cost to those

  • Youth Residing in Juvenile Detention, Correctional and/or Residential Facilities by Race and Hispanic Origin (2017)

    Although the United States still leads the industrialized world in the rate at which it locks up young people, the youth confinement rate in the US

  • Youth Residing in Juvenile Detention, Correctional and/or Residential Facilities (2017)

    Although the United States still leads the industrialized world in the rate at which it locks up young people, the youth confinement rate in the US

  • Safety at a Girls Secure Juvenile Justice Facility (2015)

    Serious juvenile delinquency is a significant and costly problem in the society.

  • Photo Essay: Life Inside a Juvenile Detention Center for Girls (2015)

    For the past eight years, photographer Richard Ross has been documenting juvenile detention centers across the country.

  • Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood (2017)

    This groundbreaking study provides data for the first time revealing that adults surveyed view Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like tha

  • Stopping School Pushout for: Girls Involved in the Juvenile Justice System (2017)

    This report highlights the data on girls in the juvenile justice system and the trauma that often leads them there, examines the effect the juvenil

  • Bringing Sex-Responsive Principles into Practice Evidence from the Evaluation of the PACE Center for Girls (2017)

    This brief describes the principles of sex-responsive programs, summarizes the literature, and presents highlights of MDRC’s implementation study o

  • Helping Girls Get Back on Track: An Implementation Study of the PACE Center for Girls (2017)

    This report describes the implementation of PACE at the 14 centers that are participating in the evaluation.

  • Mi Hermana's Keeper Toolkit: Promising Practices for Juvenile Justice Prevention Programs Supporting Latina Youth (2017)

    The toolkit provides effective culturally responsive practices for prevention programs supporting Latina youth who are at risk of placement in juve

  • Progress Check: Youth Confinement in America Today: Youth Residing In Juvenile Detention, Correctional And/Or Residential Facilities (2016)

    America’s youth confinement rate dropped across all racial and ethnic groups during the last decade - and by 40% overall.

  • Essential Elements of a Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice System (2016)

    This publication describes the eight essential elements of a trauma-informed juvenile justice system.

  • Juvenile Justice Research-to-Practice Implementation Resources (2017)

    The Juvenile Justice Research-to-Practice Implementation Resources provide juvenile justice agency managers, staff, and other practitioners with co

  • Complex Trauma: In Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth (2017)

    This 7-page fact sheet delineates the path from complex trauma exposure to involvement in the juvenile justice system; describes the “survival-oriented coping” that youth adopt to manage their lives; and explores the many challenges these youth face in managing their emotions, physical responses, and impulses.
  • Juvenile Mental Health Treatment Court Locator (2017)

    Juvenile Mental Health Courts (JMHCs) provide case management and support to youth in the juvenile justice system with behavioral health needs.

  • Key Things to Know About Juveniles Who Sexually Offend (2017)

    Juveniles and adults who sexually offend should be viewed as distinct populations.

  • The Sentencing Project Issues: Youth Justice

    News and publications about juvenile justice.

  • Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice Systems: A Systematic Review of Definitions and Core Components (2017)

    The U.S. Department of Justice has called for the creation of trauma-informed juvenile justice systems in order to combat the negative impact of trauma on youth offenders and frontline staff. The extant literature offers relative consensus around the core domains of a trauma-informed juvenile justice system, but much less agreement on the specific practices and policies.
  • Mental Health and the Juvenile Justice System: Issues Related to Treatment and Rehabilitation (2017)

    Children and youth with mental health issues and learning difficulties are common in the juvenile justice system and finding ways to effectively re

  • Effectively Implementing Family Engagement and Involvement Practices for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System [Webinar] (2017)

    This webinar highlights strategies, tools, examples, and best-practice models from across the country that juvenile justice agency managers, staff,

  • Effectively Implementing Evidence Based Programs and Services for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System [Webinar] (2017)

    This webinar highlights strategies, tools, examples, and best-practice models from across the country that juvenile justice agency managers, staff,

  • Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Principles in Juvenile Justice: A Meta-Analysis (2017)

    The objective of this study was to systematically review and statistically synthesize all available research that, at a minimum, compared participa

  • California Won’t Jail Children for Being Poor. Will Other States Follow? (2017)

    Bala, Nila

    Newsweek, U.S. Edition 12/30/17 at 6:00 AM