The Rise and Fall of a Successful Reform in Juvenile Justice Education

• In Event: Delinquency, Schools, and the Juvenile Justice System

Abstract

This paper describes the social, political, and economic factors that led to the development of the reform movement and organization in Florida, known as the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program (JJEEP). The paper explains how this 12-year organization was established out of a time of legal crisis and accountability, how it was successfully implemented using a translational approach, how it co-opted local school districts and, in turn, was transformed by its operational environment, and ultimately, how changing environmental factors led to its early demise. Using a translational approach, JJEEP targeted the problem of the historical neglect of the education of incarcerated youth through its four interrelated functions, namely (1) quality assurance of the educational services for incarcerated youth, (2) technical assistance to improve services, (3) longitudinal research that assessed youths’ post-release educational and delinquency outcomes, and (4) annual policy recommendations to state legislators and agencies. Findings on the improvement of educational services and post-release outcomes are presented. Using organizational theory, the paper explains how the JJEEP organization was influenced and impacted by the changing environment in which it rose and fell. The implications for reform programs in the current political and economic environment are discussed.

Authors

• Thomas G. Blomberg, Florida State University

• George Pesta, Florida State University