Studies of State-level Juvenile Justice System Improvement Efforts

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) Assessing the Impact of Juvenile Justice Reforms Program supports research and evaluations to investigate whether certain juvenile justice policies and practices produce better outcomes for youth, improve public safety, and/or achieve a greater return on taxpayer investments. This panel will highlight evaluations of the implementation and impact of: (1) Kentucky’s Senate Bill 200 which included a series of policy changes to provide more targeted and effective treatment to youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system, (2) Ohio’s juvenile justice reinvestment strategy to encourage reductions in confinement and to increase support for community-based alternatives, and (3) Maryland’s Accountability and Incentives Management (AIM) system, a graduated response approach for youth under community supervision.

Sub Unit

• Area VII. The Criminal Justice System / 44. The Juvenile Justice System

Individual Presentations

• An Evaluation of Juvenile Justice Reform Efforts in Kentucky - Sarah Vidal, Westat; Suzanne Kaasa, Westat

• The Effects of Juvenile Justice Reform on Treatment Program Matching and Reducing Recidivism - Insun Park, University of Cincinnati; Christopher Sullivan, University of Cincinnati

• Assessing the Impact of a Graduated Response Approach for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System - Jill Farrell, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Aaron Betsinger, University of Maryland, Baltimore; John Irvine, Maryland Department of Juvenile Services

Chair

• Benjamin Adams, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention