PbS

Performance-based Standards (PbS) participants are leading reforms across the country through their dedication to measuring and using data to make sure they provide the highest-quality services and programs. They also commit to collecting a tremendous amount of information to build a comprehensive picture of their programs. Last October alone participants collected data from more than 10,000 incident reports and over 4,000 youth records and entered that information into the PbS website. PbS has been working to make that process easier and have recently made available an Application Programming Interface (API) aimed at doing so.

Quite often staff will enter the same information into multiple information systems. For example, if an incident occurs at a facility, that incident may be reportable to a state agency reporting system and also reportable to the PbS system.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility in Indiana has piloted the Joint Understanding and Cooperation Program (JUCP). JUCP aims to improve the level of mutual respect between staff and youths through a better cultural environment.

The training takes place over three days and includes 14 training hours. Staff and youths attend separate sessions on the first two days of training, but come together for the third day which is instructed by both student facilitators and Indiana Department of Correction instructors. The program covers four different modules—Overview of Joint Understanding and Cooperation Program, which provides an overview of the program; Role Models, which explains role modeling and rapport; Redirecting Inappropriate Behavior, which teaches participants about conflict and appropriate responses to conflict; and Reinforcing Positive Behavior, which explains the appropriate use of positive reinforcement and how to demonstrate skills learned in the course.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

Performance-based Standards (PbS) is always excited to share some of the great initiatives that are going on in the field especially during this time of year. Many facilities arrange projects and activities for youths, staff and families during the holiday season.

Youths at Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility, a recent Barbara Allen-Hagen Award winner, have been busy creating cards and sun catchers, decorating housing units and baking cookies. Youths also helped deliver the items they made to a local Veteran’s Hospital and nursing home.

Read the full article at the CJCA blog.

Many facilities are helping youths and staff get into the holiday spirit by organizing various activities and events. Performance-based Standards (PbS) is proud to share some great stories from facilities across the country who are making this time of year memorable for youths and staff.

The Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility holds a decoration contest every year during the holidays. This year’s theme was “Fairytale Christmas”. Youths and staff decorated living units that were judged by a panel that included Sacramento officials and members from the community. The decoration contest has helped build rapport between youths and staff especially during the holidays while kids are away from friends and family.

Read the full article at the CJCA blog.

A trend that cannot be ignored is the rapid rise of girls entering the juvenile justice system. As more girls are becoming involved with the system, more focus has been placed on the unique needs and challenges that girls face as well as girl-focused reform efforts.

The Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy report “Improving the Juvenile Justice System for Girls” describes some key points about girls in the juvenile justice system. Firstly, girls are disproportionately “high need” and “low risk,” meaning they have a critical need for services, but do not pose a large threat to public safety. The report also notes that girls are also more likely than boys to be arrested for status offenses, are likely to have experienced traumatic events, have previously unaddressed health issues and come from a background of family conflict and residential instability.

Read the full article at the CJCA blog.

Each year thousands of youth who’ve committed no crime become involved with the juvenile courts for behaviors such as running away, being truant, violating curfew laws, being “beyond the control of their parents” or committing other actions that are only an offense if you are under a certain age (known as “status offenses”). In many states, youth can even be held in juvenile detention for these offenses, if they violate a court order not to commit them again.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

The Performance-based Standards (PbS) State Coordinators Training is an annual training that convenes state agency leaders in PbS from across the country. At the training, state coordinators learn ways to utilize PbS to help face some of the most pressing and relevant issues in their jurisdictions as well as in the juvenile justice field.

The 2014 State Coordinator’s Training will be held Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2014 in Tampa, FL at the Tampa Marriott Westshore Hotel. This year’s training centers around the theme of “Helping Kids Succeed” with the goal to help state coordinators rise up to today’s challenges and build resource networks within the PbS community.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

The Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility recently held an open house for its newly opened Youth Transition Reentry Independent Living (YTRI) unit. This unit was opened as a result of the Indiana Department of Correction’s Division of Youth Services involvement in Performance-based Standards (PbS) and learning through national best practices that the use of isolation and confining youth to a room for long periods of time is detrimental to the treatment and developmental process. National best practices also show that isolation of youth should only be used for short periods of time and only for the protection of the youth from harming themselves or others. Such isolation should be brief, supervised and include mental health professionals to minimize the use of isolation and segregation.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently released its report Alone and Afraid: Children Held in Solitary Confinement and Isolation in Juvenile Detention and Correctional Facilities.

This report follows a 2012 report by Human Rights Watch and the ACLU, Growing Up Locked Down – Youth in Solitary Confinement in Jails and Prisons Across the United States.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

The International Chiefs of Police (IACP) recently, released an IACP publication “Law Enforcement’s Leadership Role in the Advancement of Promising Practices in Juvenile Justice” detailing the results of a nationwide survey of nearly 1,000 law enforcement leaders on juvenile justice.

The survey, which was conducted with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is part of a multi year initiative to increase the leadership role of state and local law enforcement executives to effectively address systemic juvenile justice issues as well as improve local responses to juvenile offenders.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

As one who began his career in juvenile justice around the time Congress enacted the JJDPA, I’ve witnessed how this landmark legislation has guided youth correction systems to provide better treatment and services to youths for the last four decades.

When I directed a group home in New York City for the New York State Division for Youth in the early 1970s, many status offenders were being mixed in with juvenile delinquents in large institutions in my own state and throughout the country. The Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO) provision of the JJDP Act of 1974 signaled the end to a practice that drove kids deeper into the youth corrections system.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

There is a world within prisons that only the prisoners know. Correctional officers, administrators, counselors and academics may all have access to a part of the life of a prisoner, but these windows by their nature only offer a limited view of the happenings behind the barbed wire. There's a disconnect that makes it difficult to see that world through a prisoner’s eyes. One way to bridge this gap in information is to go directly to the source: the prisoners.

The Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators recently featured a short article by Kim Godfrey, the Executive Director of Performance Based Standards Learning Institute (PbSLi). PbSLi was an outgrowth of increasing awareness in the 1990s that youth prisons were dangerous for both staff and inmates and ineffective in providing strategies of rehabilitation. A congressionally mandated report resulted in a call for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to create adequate nationwide standards for juvenile facilities. Part of their work is the collection of data, and then putting the data into context in relation to best practices.

The article focuses on PbSLi’s latest brief, “What Youths Say Matters.” Godfrey writes: “I realize that what youths say about their experiences in custody is essential to understanding the truth about what happens in juvenile facilities and provides crucial information needed to manage safe and healthy juvenile facilities.” This, based on her 20 years of listening to and asking questions of kids in detention is a profound (and seldom embraced) position in the world of juvenile justice reform.

The findings focused on PbSLi’s research as well as the Pathways to Desistance study, and show a direct link between the quality of a youth’s experience in detention and their continued involvement in the system and likelihood to commit new offenses. “Youths perceiving a generally more positive facility experience were about 36 percent less likely to continue offending, according to self reports, and about 49 percent less likely to continue according to arrest and/or return to placement reports.”

This flies in the face of the popular idea that negative experiences while incarcerated somehow transform into positive outcomes. “Feeling safe” led to a 6 percent decline in “system involvement and antisocial behavior.” A perception of the fairness and harshness of the facility, along with interaction with antisocial peers also impacted how likely kids were to get back into criminal activity.

Simple strategies focused on youths understanding the facility’s rules, perceiving staff as helpful and school as good, coupled with less segregation, have been shown to correlate with an overall more positive experience. Most telling is the brief’s statement that, “Researchers and experienced professionals agree that staff-youth relationships have the greatest influence on a youth’s experience and ... offer the single largest opportunity to impact safety and rehabilitation.”

This is a key understanding that still has a long way to go in being widely accepted in the juvenile justice field. Too often punitive environments modeled on adult prisons remain in place, leaving no room for the kind of stable and positive adult-youth relationships that form the foundation of how kids become adults. This research should be disseminated widely. It not only make financial sense by reducing costly detentions, it makes moral sense that kids deserve to be treated as kids, no matter what they have done.

This article was retrieved from the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange.

There’s no debate that zero tolerance for sexual abuse is a mandatory and moral requirement for facilities that hold some of our most vulnerable youths. In preparation for the national Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards and audits of youth correction and detention facilities, the Performance-based Standards (PbS) program has started a pilot project with the Greene County, Missouri, Detention Center to identify ways to support agency and facility efforts to create safe, healthy cultures free of sexual abuse.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

The Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) has begun offering juvenile offenders free online courses that can lead to college credits. The courses, created by Education Portal, contain brief lectures from technical experts and are designed to help youths pass the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) test. CLEP credits are accepted by nearly 3,000 colleges and universities.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

My eyes were first opened to the need for juvenile justice programs to incorporate trauma-informed care philosophy and practices by Vincent Felitti, MD, co-principal investigator of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. His presentation left no doubt in my mind that childhood maltreatment impacts later-life health and convinced me with his data that the more negative experiences a child has, the more likely he or she will have multiple later-life ills and issues such as substance abuse, alcoholism, high-risk behaviors, disease and death.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

Do you need to catch up on juvenile justice news? We’ve compiled a list of recent news stories, so you can be up to date about what’s going on in juvenile justice.

The Coalition for Juvenile Justice and the National Juvenile Justice Network are hosting the webinar “Better Responses to Youth Who Commit Status Offenses” on November 12 at 4PM EST.

For more juvenile justice news, read the full article on the CJCA blog.

There’s an old French proverb that says: If you want the truth, ask a child. I’ve taken that to mean telling untruths is something learned later in life, after children learn they can choose their words to achieve a desired outcome – usually to be accepted and praised rather than rejected and punished.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

Youth Justice Awareness Month (YJAM) aims to bring awareness to the consequences of placing youths in adult facilities. Over the past month, there have been blog posts, reports and events all pertaining to this topic. Below are some of the highlights.

YJAM was started in 2008 by Tracy McClard whose 16 year old son had died in an adult facility. Since YJAM’s inception, organizations, families and advocates have hosted a variety of events to raise awareness.

For more YJAM highlights, read the full article on the CJCA blog.

A heartwarming story comes out of Vermont: Families with young children who entered the Project Against Violent Encounters (PAVE) program received handmade dolls created by girls from the Bennington School.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility’s recent success in reducing injuries to staff and youth was highlighted in Changes in Attitudes, Changes in Outcomes by Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI). Pine Hills’ story shows how Performance-based Standards (PbS) and using data can be the catalyst for change at a juvenile facility.

Read the full article on the CJCA blog.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has awarded $400,000 to the American Institutes for Research and the National Crittenton Foundation to support the National Girls Institute (NGI). NGI works to reduce the number of girls in the juvenile justice system and improve the treatment of girls in detention by developing standards of care, providing access to resources, and providing training and technical assistance to professionals working with at-risk and delinquent girls and their families. Announcing the award, OJJDP Administrator Robert L. Listenbee reiterated the Office’s commitment to advancing the understanding of girls’ issues and improving program and system responses to girls in the juvenile justice system.

Resources:
Learn more about OJJDP's research and programs related to girls in the juvenile justice system.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), a program of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services, has released six online briefs that discuss the key elements of a trauma-informed juvenile justice system. Topics include current issues and new directions in creating trauma-informed systems, assessment and interventions, family engagement, continuity of care and cross-system collaboration, trauma-informed care in facilities, and racial disparities within the system.

Resources:
Access additional resources from NCTSN.

Read about the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Working Definition of Trauma and Principles and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach

The National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have published “Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership.” Written by leading public health and criminal justice researchers, “Changing Course” provides principles to help practitioners and policymakers make decisions based on the best available evidence to prevent kids from joining a gang. The report examines why youth are attracted to gangs, explores key child development issues and risks for joining a gang, and offers prevention strategies that a variety of stakeholders — such as schools, law enforcement, public health, and communities — can use to address their specific needs.

Resources:
Download the executive summary and full report.

Watch an interview with Tom Simon, Deputy Associate Director for Science at CDC, on preventing youth from joining gangs.

Access related resources from the National Gang Center.

Last year, the Vera Institute of Justice’s Family Justice Program wrapped up a multi-year project to develop and pilot family engagement standards for the Performance-based Standards Learning Institute. All juvenile corrections facilities participating in PbS are now collecting information related to family engagement—including a survey of family members twice a year. There are currently 48 facilities across 15 states collecting family surveys with a total of 1,033 family surveys collected since the start of the project.

One of the original pilot states is already benefiting from having data on family engagement after implementing the new standards last fall. Based on feedback from their PbS reports, Indiana’s Pendleton Juvenile Correctional facility decided to increase their rates of visitation. They analyzed their visitation policies and made drastic changes—opening up visitation hours to just about any time a family member can get to the facility. In addition to the expanded visiting hours, all restrictions on the number of visits a young person could receive were lifted.

These changes went into effect at the beginning of this year and, after just a few short months, the staff are seeing big changes. Not only did they successfully double their normal rate of visitation, they saw improved behavior by young people in the facility. The Family Justice Program found a similar correlation between improved behavior and visits in Ohio.

Based on feedback from the family surveys, Indiana also recognized that families were not involved in treatment and reentry plans. In response, facility staff now call parents to discuss progress and behavior issues. Additionally, a family council was created. The family council, called PIES (Parent Information and Education Session), is designed to improve communication between the facility and parents. For example, acting on the council’s suggestion, the facility now runs family fun nights.

Vera applauds Indiana’s Division of Youth Services for having the courage to reflect on their practice, open themselves up to conversations with families, and make changes to increase opportunities for youth and families to connect.

This article was retrieved from the VERA Institute of Justice blog.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has released "OJJDP Family Listening Sessions: Executive Summary." In 2011, OJJDP and the Campaign for Youth Justice convened four listening sessions involving families and youth who have had direct experiences with the juvenile justice system at the local or state levels. This report summarizes the participants' experiences and their recommendations for reform. The listening sessions provide OJJDP, state juvenile justice agencies, and other stakeholders with a greater understanding of the challenges families face when their child becomes involved in the juvenile or criminal justice systems.

Resources:

Read the full report online.

Today at 4 pm EDT, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) will hold a panel discussion entitled States’ Innovations in Juvenile Justice: Investing in Better Outcomes for Youth. Murphy will bring together state and federal officials, lawmakers, and juvenile justice experts and advocates for a 90 minute panel discussion on juvenile justice reform in America.

Several states across the U.S. have developed and implemented innovative reforms to reduce the number of children committed to juvenile detention facilities, decrease school referrals to the juvenile court system, and keep children in their communities and schools. Connecticut, Texas, and Ohio have led the way in recent years by adopting these new approaches with great success. Not only have these states saved millions of dollars in wasteful spending and cut back on harmful, ineffective approaches, but they have improved outcomes for children. By reinvesting funds back into programs proven to work, states can grow even more savings by helping children become productive adults.

The discussion will be livestreamed on this page at 4 PM EDT.

On July 8, 2013, Illinois’ Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation into law that raises the age of the state’s juvenile court jurisdiction to include 17 year olds charged with felonies. This legislation will allow youth to be tried as juveniles and access more rehabilitative services in the juvenile justice system rather than receiving adult criminal convictions and records. The law does not change state laws that allow youth who commit certain serious crimes, such as first degree murder, to be automatically waived to adult criminal court. Illinois joins 38 states that currently prosecute 17 year olds charged with felonies in juvenile court.

Resources:

Access information and download “Raising the Age of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction,” the 2-year study recommending that Illinois expand the jurisdiction of its juvenile courts to include 17 year olds charged with felonies.

View the Illinois law raising the age for the state’s juvenile court jurisdiction on felony cases.

The Pew Charitable Trusts has released two Web briefs:

• “State-Local Partnership in Ohio Cuts Juvenile Recidivism, Costs” describes how that state expanded its use of more effective, cost-efficient community-based alternatives to incarceration in overcrowded, expensive state facilities for lower risk youth.
• “Bending the Curve: Juvenile Corrections Reform in Texas” describes how that state reformed its juvenile corrections system as a response to reported abuses. Reforms reduced the number of juveniles in secure state facilities, reduced recidivism and increased public safety, and saved the state millions of dollars.

Resources:

View and download “State-Local Partnership in Ohio Cuts Juvenile Recidivism, Costs.”

View and download “Bending the Curve: Juvenile Corrections Reform in Texas.”

The Vera Institute of Justice has released two new publications:

• “Measuring Success: A Guide to Becoming an Evidence-Based Practice.” This guide, funded by the MacArthur Foundation as part of its Models for Change initiative, describes the process that determines whether a program qualifies as evidence-based and explains how programs can prepare to be evaluated.
• “The Impact of Family Visitation on Incarcerated Youth’s Behavior and School Performance: Findings from the Families as Partners Project.” This brief summarizes the findings of the Families as Partners project, a partnership between the Vera Institute’s Family Justice Program and the Ohio Department of Youth Services, that looked at associations between family support and outcomes for system-involved youth during their incarceration.

Resources:
Download “Measuring Success: A Guide to Becoming an Evidence-Based Practice”

Download “The Impact of Family Visitation on Incarcerated Youth’s Behavior and School Performance”

Read about the OJJDP and MacArthur Foundation partnership and support of the Models for Change initiative.

The Performance-based Standards (PbS) Family-Youth Initiative (FYI) collected more than 500 surveys from family members of youths either currently in or recently released from secure facilities and the April 2013 results show the vast majority reported positive experiences with facilities.

“This is a very exciting and essential component of PbS and we’re pleased to see these first results show better-than-expected relationships between facilities and families,” said PbS Learning Institute Executive Director Kim Godfrey. “And more importantly, we’ve already seen facilities change practices in direct response to what families have said to give families more access to their children and information about their treatment.”

The families surveyed came from nearly 30 facilities in eight states. All PbS correction participants were given the option in January to participate in pilot testing the new family survey. The survey is being modified for short-term detention centers and a similar family survey has been used in the community-based PbS programs since 2008.

Some of the results included:

• Most (86%) families felt welcome at the facility,
• Most (88%) felt respected by staff members,
• Most (84%) of families felt their opinion regarding their child’s rehabilitation was valued by staff,
• Nearly all (95%) families understood and agreed with their child’s treatment plans,
• Almost all (95%) families understood and agreed with their child’s discharge plans, and
• Most (84%) reported that they knew whom to contact if they had any questions about their child’s well-being.

FYI was developed by PbS in collaboration with the Vera Institute of Justice, Family Justice Program. Since 2011, PbS and Vera have worked with an Advisory Board made up of family representatives, facility superintendents, researchers and experts to develop a new PbS section to guide best practices to engage and work with families.

In the next phase of this pilot PbS will be rolling out many of the family related questions to all participants. Beginning with the October 2013 reporting period, all facilities participating in PbS will see results from the few additional questions to the youth and staff climate surveys, youth records and the administrative form. Participation in the collection of family surveys will remain optional for October.

If your facility is interested in distributing and collecting the PbS Family Survey, please contact your coach or the Helpdesk at help@pbstandards.org.

For the next phase in the Family-Youth Initiative pilot, all facilities participating in PbS will see additional questions to the data collection forms. The information below shows the questions that are being added to each survey starting with the October 2013 collection period.

Administrative Form:

1. How many facility events were open to families and supportive people during the data collection period?
2. Does your facility have a family council or a formalized group of parents and family representatives that serves as the liaison for families to the facility administration?
3. Are family members or representatives included when the facility and/or agency conducts policy reviews?

Staff Climate Survey:

1. Do staff members talk with youths about the youths’ families and other supportive people?

2. Which of the following statements are true for you?

   -I have better results working with the youths when I include families.
   -The training I received has improved the way I interact with families. -I value family members and youths’ social supports as partners in my work with the youths.

Youth Climate Survey:

1. When you leave here, who will you call when you need to talk or need help working out a problem?
2. Are staff members interested in what you have to say?
3. Are staff members interested in what your family has to say?
4. Have staff members asked you questions about how your family and friends help you?
5. Which of the following statements are true about this facility?
   -My family feels welcomed at this facility.
   -My family talks regularly with staff at this facility.
   -My family and staff generally get along with each other.
6. Do you have any children?

Youth Record:

1. Were family and/or supportive people included in the youth’s treatment plan?

2. Were family therapy sessions suggested in the youth’s treatment plan?

3. Were the strengths and needs of the youth’s family and supportive people assessed?

4. Does the youth’s aftercare plan include identification of people who will support the youth in the community?

5. Number of treatment team meetings that had a family member or other supportive person participate:

6. Did a family member or supportive person sign the aftercare treatment and placement plan?

7. Does the youth have any children?

Downloadable copies of the October 2013 PbS Youth Record are currently available in the resources section of the PbS website. All other surveys mentioned above will be posted to the website soon. If you have any questions, please contact the PbS Helpdesk at 1-888-727-5482 or help@pbstandards.org

For Immediate Release: June 20, 2013

Contact: Kim Parsell 614-466-9854 / 614-623-2209 Kim.Parsell@dys.ohio.gov

Progress at Ohio Department of Youth Services Leads Federal Court to Find Quality Assurance and Improvement Practices Compliant

Agency has demonstrated to the Court that it is able to identify and address challenges in order maintain and improve conditions for youth

Columbus, Ohio- Today U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley found that the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) has demonstrated that it is able to identify and address challenges through its quality assurance and improvement processes.

“We are proud of our staff who have been working hard to reach this milestone achievement,” said Harvey J. Reed, Director of DYS. “Our quality assurance process helps us maintain high standards to make a difference in the lives of the young people we serve.”

“Effective quality assurance and quality improvement practices are key to any institutional reform effort, because they demonstrate to the Court, plaintiffs, and community stakeholders that the agency is capable of identifying and addressing problems related to conditions of confinement as they arise,” said Will Harrell, Lead Monitor. “The agency thus demonstrates that court oversight is no longer necessary by establishing that it can effectively monitor itself.”

“We congratulate DYS on all the progress made over these last five years including a substantial reduction in the institutional population, increased support for community-based treatment, improved treatment and education for youth in DYS custody, and instituting a quality assurance system that will provide a basis for continued improvement,” said Al Gerhardstein and Kim Brooks Tandy, attorneys representing youth. “DYS deserves a great deal of credit for its steady progress, and we are confident that we will see similar progress on the areas that remain in the case.”

Focused court monitoring will continue for mental health services and the special management unit. While some challenges remain, the Department is committed to continuous improvement in its facilities and programs to promote the continued rehabilitation of the youth in its care.

DYS is the juvenile corrections system for the state of Ohio and is statutorily mandated to confine felony offenders, ages 10 to 21, who have been adjudicated and committed by one of Ohio's 88 county juvenile courts. DYS operates four juvenile correctional facilities, provides parole services from five regional sites and funds and supports 625 community programs throughout the state.

The Comeback States, a new report that NJJN co-authored with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, examines how the turnaround in the number of detained or incarcerated youth came about. In 2000, more than 100,000 kids were being held in detention centers or incarcerated. Just a decade later, there was a drop of almost 40%. The report examines policy reforms nine states have adopted that reflect a new approach to addressing youth incarceration.

Resources:
Download the report

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has announced the following fiscal year 2013 funding opportunities:

• National Mentoring Resource Center. OJJDP seeks applicants to develop the center’s capabilities to provide mentoring resources, references, and training materials to support implementation of mentoring practices that are evidence and research based. Applications are due by July 23, 2013.
• Youth with Sexual Behavior Problems Program. This program, a collaboration between OJJDP and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking, will fund agencies that use a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to providing intervention and supervision services for youth with sexual behavior problems and treatment services for their child victims and families. Applications are due by July 25, 2013.

Resources:
Visit OJJDP’s funding page for more information about this solicitation and other current funding opportunities.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has released “Nature and Risk of Victimization: Findings From the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement.” This is the final bulletin in OJJDP’s series on the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement, which gathered data directly from youth in custody. The survey findings signal an urgent need for policy and program initiatives to reduce victimization and improve protections for confined youth.

Resources:

View the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement.

View and download “Nature and Risk of Victimization: Findings From the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement.”

Order print copies online from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service

June 7, 2013
NEWS RELEASE

Media Contacts:
C. J. Drake, OYA Communications Office
503-385-5899 or CJ.Drake@oya.state.or.us
Sara Inman, Education Portal
650-962-1200, ext. 521 or sara@education-portal.com

As the first round of Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) kids graduate from their facility’s high school this weekend, the agency is introducing a first-of-its-kind program to help troubled youth catch up on educational opportunities they missed before incarceration.

Known as Education Portal, the program offers free, online college courses that lead to widely accepted college credit. Oregon will be the first state in the nation to offer an array of college courses to juvenile offenders.

Because kids have limited internet access in OYA facilities during school hours, they will have more opportunities to learn from college video DVDs after school. Using Education Portal, youth can earn credit for the first two years of college and significantly reduce the time and cost of earning a degree.

“We who work with troubled kids are only too aware of the school-to-prison pipeline,” said OYA Director Fariborz Pakseresht. “When at-risk youth arrive at OYA, they are often years behind in high school, have learning disabilities, and have suffered from abuse and neglect. We are deeply grateful to Education Portal for this partnership that offers kids a chance to make up for lost time and educational opportunities.”

Each DVD contains a series of 5-minute lectures on math, English or other topics taught by experienced instructors. Each lecture is followed by a brief quiz that is instantly graded. The courses are designed specifically to help OYA youth pass credit-granting exams such as the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) test. CLEP credit is accepted by nearly 3,000 colleges and universities nationwide.

"We are proud to partner with OYA’s efforts to bring college education to incarcerated students and reduce recidivism," said Ben Wilson, Education Portal president.

Approximately 300 of the more than 800 youth in OYA’s 10 facilities statewide are eligible to participate in the Education Portal program. After they leave OYA’s care, they can continue learning by using the company’s internet-based courses.

Fifteen youth from Trask River High School at Camp Tillamook and Tillamook Youth Correctional Facility will graduate Saturday, with other OYA facilities holding ceremonies throughout June.

Click here for a video that explains Education Portal’s program for incarcerated youth.

The Oregon Youth Authority is the state's juvenile justice agency, reducing victimization by helping at-risk young people lead productive, crime-free lives. Learn more at www.oregon.gov/oya and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/oregonyouth.

Education Portal makes education accessible through free, online courses that help students earn widely-accepted college credit, as well as pass the GED exam. Taught by experienced instructors and subject matter experts, Education Portal's 50+ courses consist of over 4,000 fun and engaging micro-lessons designed specifically for the online learner. Since their launch in 2011, over 2 million students have used Education Portal's free online courses. Education Portal is owned by Remilon, LLC, and based in Mountain View, California. Learn more at www.education-portal.com.

Source:
Original press release from the OYA website.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has released the spring 2013 issue of the online Journal of Juvenile Justice.

Articles in this issue include:

• Family-Focused Juvenile Reentry Services: A Quasi-Experimental Design Evaluation of Recidivism Outcomes.
• An Examination of the Early “Strains” of Imprisonment Among Young Offenders Incarcerated for Serious Crimes.
• Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory and Court-Involved Adolescent Females: An Exploration of Parent-Child Relationships and Student-Teacher Relationships.
• One Family, One Judge Practice Effects on Children: Permanency Outcomes on Case Closure and Beyond.
• An Outcome-Based Evaluation of Functional Family Therapy for Youth With Behavioral Problems.
• Relating Resilience Factors and Decision Making in Two Groups of Underserved Adolescents: Implications for Intervention.

Resources:

Access past issues of the semiannual, peer-reviewed journal.

Submit manuscripts for future issues.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has released "PTSD, Trauma, and Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders in Detained Youth." The bulletin is part of OJJDP’s Beyond Detention series, which examines the results of the Northwestern Juvenile Project—a longitudinal study of youth detained at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago, IL. This bulletin presents findings on the prevalence of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among juvenile detainees and PTSD’s tendency to co-occur with other psychiatric disorders.

Resources:
Learn more about the Northwestern Juvenile Project, cosponsored by OJJDP.
View and download "PTSD, Trauma, and Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders in Detained Youth."
Order print copies online from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service here.

May 31, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Michael Winder, Communications & Information Manager

State Juvenile Corrections Programs Continue To Shine In PbS Project

Custer, S.D.- For an unprecedented third time, all of the state’s juvenile corrections programs have reached the highest level status possible under a national project that measures conditions and treatment services provided to incarcerated youth.

All three of the reporting programs at the State Treatment and Rehabilitation (STAR) Academy near Custer obtained Level 4 status during the April 2013 data collection period for the Performance-based Standards (PbS) project. South Dakota became the first state to have all of its reporting programs achieve Level 4 status in April 2011 and repeated the feat in October 2012.

“Since 2009, we have had one or more of our STAR Academy programs maintain a Level 4 status in the PbS project,” said Denny Kaemingk, Secretary of Corrections. “This is a tribute to the dedicated team utilizing evidence-based practices to provide the very best care possible for the youth entrusted to us.”

“Having all three STAR Academy programs repeat the accomplishment of obtaining the highest level possible is quite remarkable,” said Doug Herrmann, Director of Juvenile Services. “Through the commitment of Tonya Wright-Cook as our PbS coordinator, our other agency partners, dedicated staff and the leadership of STAR Superintendent Jeff Haiar and Director of Juvenile Community Services Kristi Bunkers, South Dakota leads the nation in juvenile corrections.”

PbS is a program developed by the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators (CJCA) for agencies and facilities to identify, monitor and improve conditions and treatment services provided to incarcerated youths using national standards and outcome measures.

Data is collected twice per year to measure safety, security, order, medical and mental health services, justice and legal rights, programming and reintegration planning. STAR Academy has participated in the PbS project since 2001. Governor Dennis Daugaard signed an executive order in 2012 requiring the state juvenile corrections programs to continue participating in the project and to report annually to the Legislature on the progress of the project.

There are currently 156 facilities in the nation participating in the PbS project. Nineteen of those facilities reached Level 4 status for the last reporting period, with three of them being from South Dakota.

For more information on STAR Academy’s participation in the PbS project or to view the most recent annual report, visit the Department of Corrections website at: http://doc.sd.gov/juvenile/pbsp.aspx.

For more information on the PbS project, visit the CJCA website at: http://pbstandards.org/initiatives/performance-based-standards-pbs.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has announced the following fiscal year 2013 funding opportunities:

• National Juvenile Justice Information Sharing Training and Technical Assistance Program. OJJDP seeks applications for its national program to deliver training, technical assistance, and implementation support for information sharing among juvenile justice, child welfare, mental health, education, and other youth-serving agencies. This program will enhance agencies’ ability to provide services and ensure better outcomes for children, youth, and families. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 9, 2013.
• Division of Innovation and Research Fellowship Program on Juvenile Justice Data. The fellowship will provide an opportunity for researchers with experience and expertise in juvenile justice, survey methodology, and statistics to help implement collaborative cross-agency strategies, policies, and programs to enhance and improve data for use by policymakers and practitioners nationwide. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 15, 2013

Resources:
Visit OJJDP’s funding page for more information about this solicitation and other current funding opportunities.

The National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA) recently announced the availability of the Training Curriculum and Program Guide on Suicide Detection and Prevention in Juvenile Detention and Correctional Facilities and Residential Programs, a comprehensive 190-page manual developed by Lindsay M. Hayes. The manual, contained in a three-ring binder and accompanied by a CD of 163 PowerPoint slides, is available for $199, including shipping/handling.

This Curriculum is designed to equip direct care, security, medical, mental health, and education personnel with a comprehensive understanding of suicidal behavior as it relates to the facility environment of a detention center, training school, and/or residential treatment center. It includes a discussion on juvenile suicide research, guiding principles to suicide prevention, why facility environments are conducive to suicidal behavior, staff attitudes about suicide, potential predisposing factors to suicide, warning signs and symptoms, identification of suicide risk despite the denial of risk, high-risk periods, components of the facility’s suicide prevention policy, instruction regarding the proper role of staff in responding to a suicide attempt, critical incident stress debriefing, and liability issues.

The manual is also a Program Guide and provides facility administrators a virtual blueprint for development and/or revision of suicide prevention programs. Eight critical components to a suicide prevention program are outlined in detail — staff training, intake screening/assessment, communication, safe housing, levels of observation/management, intervention, reporting, and follow-up/morbidity-mortality review.

For more information on the Training Curriculum and Program Guide’s content and availability, contact Lindsay M. Hayes, Project Director, NCIA, 40 Lantern Lane, Mansfield, MA 02048, (508) 337-8806, e-mail: Lhayesta@msn.com, or visit this link:

http://www.ncianet.org/services/suicide-prevention-in-custody/publications/training-curriculum-and-program-guide/

Today the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), an advocacy organization dedicated to ending the practice of trying, sentencing, and incarcerating youth under 18 in the adult criminal justice system, released a new report, Family Comes First: A Workbook to Transform the Justice System by Partnering With Families.

The report is the first comprehensive analysis of current family engagement and family partnership practices in juvenile justice systems around the country and provides practical tools and resources to juvenile justice system practitioners in undertaking a family-driven approach to juvenile justice.

"This report underscores the critical importance of involving families in juvenile justice," says Liz Ryan, President and CEO of the Campaign for Youth Justice. "Family Comes First serves as a guide for juvenile justice system practitioners to implement a new, family-driven approach to juvenile justice."

The workbook was funded in large part by a generous grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

In partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) conducted listening sessions with families impacted by the juvenile and criminal justice system. CFYJ also surveyed juvenile justice system leaders in juvenile corrections and juvenile detention and found that families and juvenile justice system leaders agree that:

• Basic information about the process of the court system, families' legal rights, and the role of the various players in the system is not available to families and prevents effectively addressing any treatment needs of the child;
• Economic and social supports necessary to meet the needs of children are not available to families and prevent the full participation of families in the existing activities offered by the justice system;
• Justice systems and agencies are not staffed or resourced appropriately to effectively support families;
• An opportunity to participate in decision-making at all levels should be provided to families; and
• Family supports from other families and system staff will ensure that youth achieve positive outcomes.

The report features several family-driven approaches and programs, including:

• The Youth Reception Center in Multnomah County, Oregon
• Family Group Decision-making in Pennsylvania
• Southwest Key Program (national) based in Austin, Texas
• Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (national) featuring programs in Atlantic City, New Jersey; South Bronx and Newburgh, New York
• The Center for Young Women's Development in San Francisco, California

Public opinion polling commissioned by GBA Strategies shows that the public strongly supports family engagement strategies, including requiring that incarcerated youth are placed in facilities close to their families and communities, letting youth offenders see their families at least once a week, as well as designing treatment and rehabilitation plans that include a youth's family in planning and services.

Recommendations in the report include:

Federal policymakers:

• A National Technical Assistance Center on Family Engagement should be created to provide support to state and local justice and child-serving agencies interested in starting or expanding family engagement programs;
• A National Family Resource Center should be established to serve families in the justice system; and
• The federal government should also fund state and regional Parental Information Resource Centers for families involved in the justice system, and these centers should be co-located and coordinated with existing parent centers already funded by other child-serving agencies.

State and local policymakers:

• Each agency and program having contact with children and families involved in the justice system should hire or appoint a staff person, preferably a family member or former system-involved youth, to coordinate family engagement efforts and activities;
• Every justice system agency and program with responsibility for children and youth should conduct a comprehensive assessment to develop specific strategies to implement a family-driven approach to juvenile justice; and
• Existing federal and state funding sources should be identified to support family engagement programs and related services to families in the justice system.

Resources:
View the Executive Summary of the Family Comes First Report

He pressed two fingers together, securing a butterfly's wings in between. Firm enough to keep it from flying. Gentle enough to keep its new wings from tearing.

Joseph Galindo, 19, helped the once-tiny egg transform to an exquisite painted lady the past several weeks, a metamorphosis that conceivably reflects his own path to empathy amid the unforeseen tragedy of losing his own grandmother to violence.

Galindo and two other wards at Stockton's N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility - Andrew Chavez, 20, and Kyle Raridon, 19 - have raised hundreds of butterflies that are donated to victims groups.

Galindo has spent six months at Chaderjian, one of four state facilities that houses wards with some of the most violent convictions, for a crime he committed in Bakersfield.

In the program, butterflies are used to symbolize that the young wards can change their lives.

"It first starts out like a little speck," a soft-spoken Galindo said as he opened a plastic container with pin head-size eggs.

He stood in a prison cell that is converted to a butterfly habitat.

The specks must be incubated and fed a mix of specialized powder food, vinegar and water. Galindo is responsible for monitoring the larvae. They depend on him for survival.

...read the article in full here.

The Columbia Council of Neighborhoods held its sixth annual awards banquet and Hall of Fame Introduction ceremony Thursday, April 25. Karen Tanner, the wife of University of South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner, was the guest speaker.

The ceremony focused on young people. Chase Mizzell, a student at the University of South Carolina, was awarded the Outstanding Youth Leadership award. A program of the Department of Juvenile Justice, Behind the Fence, was presented the Community Leader of Excellence award. Stacy Atkinson received the award of behalf of the department. Dr. Mary Baskin Waters, president of the CCN, recognized students from the University of South Carolina and Benedict College who attended the banquet.

Waters received a surprise of her own, the Award of Special Recognition. “I was very surprised and very honored to get that. This means more to me than any award I’ve gotten,” Waters said. Following the June 2013 meeting, her time as president of CCN will end.

Paul Bouknight from the Cotton Town/Bellevue community and Janie Nelson from Keenan Terrace were inducted into the CCN Hall of Fame. Florida Boyd from Golden Acres, Evelyn Causey from Brandon Acres/Cedar Terrace, and Donzell Belton from Edisto Court were each presented the Neighborhood Volunteer of the Year award.

Cynthia Pryor Hardy from OnPoint and Deserving Divas, Karen Alexander from Auntie Karen Foundation, and the Richland County Neighborhood Council each received Special Recognition awards for their organizations.

From February 2010 through March 2013, Vera’s Family Justice Program partnered with the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) on the Families as Partners project. The work sought to promote better outcomes for incarcerated youth by helping staff draw on youth’s families as a source of material and emotional support, encouraging visits and correspondence between youth and their families, and increasing family involvement in youth’s treatment and reentry plans. DYS is the first agency to implement Vera’s Juvenile Relational Inquiry Tool, which helps staff identify youth family and social support. The research component of the project analyzed how family support affected outcomes for youth during their incarceration. This brief summarizes the findings, which show that sustained family contact leads to improved youth behavior, including school performance.

Resources:

Download the Family Visitation and Youth Behavior Brief

The deadline for the Youth in Custody Certificate Program has been extended until May 17, 2013.

The Youth in Custody Certificate Program offers leaders the opportunity to develop capacity, effectuate change, and build on system improvements over time. The program, hosted by the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, NC4YC, the Missouri Department of Social Services' Division of Youth Services, and the Council of State Governments Justice Center, shines a brighter light on serving the high-risk juvenile offender population and helps leaders begin or accelerate systemic change to improve outcomes for youth. Modules in the training curriculum include:

• Culture Change and Leadership;
• Family and Youth Engagement;
• Assessment;
• Treatment, Services, and Reentry; and
• Expert Panel of Leaders (Providing Real-Life Examples of Reform).

Participants will receive a certificate from Georgetown University recognizing their successful completion of the program, and become a part of CJJR's Fellows Network, a mutually supportive network of leaders focused on multi-systems reforms efforts designed to better serve youth known to multiple systems. They will also receive technical assistance from national experts on their Capstone projects after they return home from the program.

The program takes place August 19-23, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Applications are now due May 17, 2013. While individuals may apply, applicants are encouraged to apply in teams to increase their ability to implement reforms to the system upon completion of the program. More information about the program, including the application, selection criteria, and information on tuition subsidies, can be found here.

In an April 12, 2013, address delivered at the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention quarterly meeting in Washington, DC, Attorney General Eric Holder outlined a series of action items for implementing the recommendations of the National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence. The recommendations for preventing and reducing the impact of children’s exposure to violence were set forth in the “Report of the Attorney General's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence,” released December 2012 as part of the Attorney General’s Defending Childhood Initiative. Attorney General Holder also announced the creation of a task force, to be led by Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West, that will address violence against children in tribal communities.

Resources:
Read the Attorney General’s address to the Coordinating Council. The council, chaired by the Attorney General, coordinates federal programs relating to juvenile delinquency prevention and missing and exploited children. Robert L. Listenbee, Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, serves as vice chair.

Order a printed copy of the Report of the Attorney General's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence.

Demonstrating that a program accomplishes its stated goals is increasingly important for social service organizations—funders and clients want to see the evidence of successful outcomes. Although a full-scale evaluation can be a costly and overwhelming goal, adopting the information-gathering and self-reflective approaches that lead up to an evaluation can in themselves strengthen an agency’s focus and procedural fidelity.

As part of the MacArthur Foundation Models for Change initiative, the Vera Institute of Justice today published Measuring Success: A Guide to Becoming an Evidence-Based Practice. It describes the process that assesses whether a program qualifies as evidence based—which often determines an organization’s funding and the growth of its client pool—and explains how programs can prepare to be evaluated.

Vera has worked with juvenile justice system service providers in many settings as they build and monitor their programs. It produced this handbook on the basis of experience in the field, and in collaboration with the Institute for Public Health and Justice at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

While the guide grew out of requests from juvenile justice service providers for a roadmap toward becoming an evidence-based practice, its recommendations have applications beyond juvenile justice. “We believe the systematic approach to collecting information on goals, treatment methods, and outcomes can benefit other social service providers seeking to measure the efficacy of their interventions,” said Annie Salsich, director of Vera’s Center on Youth Justice.

Resources:
Download Measuring Success Guide

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has announced the following fiscal year 2013 funding opportunities:

• Field-Initiated Research and Evaluation Program. OJJDP will fund field-initiated studies that advance the understanding of how the application of a child and adolescent development framework to juvenile justice system approaches, policies, and programs impacts delinquency, juvenile justice system involvement, and recidivism. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on May 29, 2013.
• VOCA (Victims of Child Abuse Act) Regional Children's Advocacy Centers Program. OJJDP will fund four regional children’s advocacy centers to provide training, technical assistance, and information services to multidisciplinary teams, local programs, and state chapter organizations of children's advocacy centers. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on May 29, 2013.
• National Girls Institute. Through this solicitation, OJJDP will support its National Girls Institute, whose mission is to improve girls’ delinquency programming and practices at the national, state, tribal, and local levels; reduce the number of girls in the juvenile justice system; and improve the treatment of girls who are already in detention. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on May 30, 2013.
• National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Youth in Custody. Through this solicitation, OJJDP will fund the National Center for Youth in Custody, which provides resources, training, and technical assistance for juvenile detention and confinement facilities, adult facilities that hold juveniles, and communities working to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on May 30, 2013.

Resources:
Visit OJJDP's funding page for more information about these solicitations and other current funding opportunities.