Enhancing Services for Crossover Youth: Challenges and Recommendations

• In Event: Enhancing Juvenile Justice in the Midwest

Abstract

Crossover youth are a concern to both child welfare and juvenile justice agencies and are among the most at-risk youth for negative outcomes. The Crossover Youth Practice Model was implemented in a Midwestern state in 2012 and was designed to divert these youth from further penetration into the juvenile justice system and/or provide them with enhanced services. This paper reports on the challenges of and recommendations for the initiative from the views of the professionals working in both systems. Challenges cited include how to work collaboratively with professionals from different backgrounds and agencies who hold different philosophies about crossover youth, how to enhance service delivery in the face of limited resources and within the realities of working “in the system,” and concerns about long-term sustainability of the initiative.

Authors

• Emily Wright, University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Ryan Spohn, University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Joselyne Chenane, University of Nebraska at Omaha