Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance Strategic Plan 2009-2013

1. Connecticut Juvenile Justice AllianceStrategic Plan2009-2013

2. CTJJA Vision CTJJA envisions a Connecticut where: (A) Children and youth remain and find all needed supports in their home community, (B) Juvenile justice is rehabilitative and provides the children and youth that do come in contact with the system the supports they need to successfully re-integrate back into their home community, and (C) Families, schools, communities, and government work together to meet the social, emotional, physical and intellectual needs of children and youth.

3. What We Do The mission of the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance is to: Reduce the number of children and youth entering the juvenile and criminal justice system, and advocate a safe, effective and fair system for those involved.

4. Why We Do Our Work (values) CTJJA believes that: • All children deserve support to reach their full potential. • Prevention is primary. • A strengths-based, rehabilitative, community-based system is more effective than a merely punitive, institutionally-based system. • Parent and family involvement is critical. • The racial and ethnic inequities of the system must end • Collaboration produces better results. • Public awareness and involvement, including youth input, is a critical part of producing a better system. • The juvenile justice system should be of the highest possible quality but should not substitute for quality children’s mental health and education.

5. How We Do Our Work CTJJA achieves its mission for, and with, children, youth and families, through: • Legislative education and advocacy • Strategic communications • Community organizing • National, state and local partnerships

6. Program Goal 1: CT youth under the age of 18 will be processed and treated through the juvenile justice system instead of the adult criminal justice system. Objectives through 12/31/13: Raise the Age • Sufficient funding will be appropriated to state agencies for “Raise the Age”-related programs and services. • 16 and 17 year-olds will begin statutorily-mandated integration into the juvenile justice system beginning January 1, 2010. • New “Raise the Age” system reform, processes, and related programs and services will be transparently monitored and evaluated to ensure desired outcomes are achieved (i.e., Alliance watchdog role). • Results of monitoring and evaluation will be utilized to continuously improve system, processes, programs and services to address the needs of youth / families. Transfer / Waiver • The mandatory transfer of all B felons age 14 and older will be eliminated. • Key stakeholders will begin to consider changing the statute to allow discretionary rather than mandatory transfer of all A felons age 14 and older. • Key stakeholders will begin to consider judicial rather than prosecutorial discretion in transfer/waiver situations. Rationale: Legislation was passed in 2007 but is not yet implemented nor funded. Within the political climate, there is philosophical buy-in and momentum for these reforms. The Alliance’s credibility is on the line to see this legislation through to its completion and positively affect 10,000 youth per year. The Alliance receives significant funding and technical assistance around this issue.

7. Program Goal 2: Status offenders will be kept out of the court system and fewer will escalate into delinquency. Objectives through 12/31/13: • Legislatively mandated statewide system of Family Support Centers will be fully funded and implemented. Family Support Centers will collaborate with community services such as Systems of Care, Juvenile Review Boards and YSBs. • Proven truancy reduction initiatives will be funded and implemented in those areas with the highest number of truancy referrals to court (as in Goal 3). • The 2007 FWSN system reforms, processes and related programs and services will be monitored and evaluated to ensure desired outcomes are achieved (i.e., Alliance watchdog role). • Results of monitoring and evaluation will be utilized to continuously improve system, processes, programs and services to address status offender / families’ needs. Rationale: Legislation was passed in 2007 but is not yet fully implemented nor funded. Within the political climate, there is philosophical buy-in and momentum for these reforms. The Alliance’s credibility is on the line to see this legislation through to its completion and positively affect up to 3,500 youth per year. In order to shrink the FWSN system, truancy referrals (which are ½ of the referrals to FWSN) have to be reduced.

8. Program Goal 3: Fewer kids will enter the juvenile justice system through schools. Objectives through 12/31/13: • Key stakeholders will have an increased awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the connection between truancy, suspension, expulsion and delinquency, as well as an increased awareness about options to effectively address these issues. • Districts with the highest rates of school-based arrests will recognize those rates as a serious problem and take steps to reduce them (e.g. SRO outreach, Positive School Culture-related programs, mediation, mentors, after-school programs, etc.). • Proven truancy reduction initiatives will be funded with local, state and/or federal dollars and implemented in those areas with the highest number of truancy referrals to court (as in Goal 2). Rationale: Schools represent one of the largest sources of referrals into the JJ system, affecting thousands of children each year. CTJJA stakeholders and partners statewide and nationally are greatly concerned about this issue.

9. Program Goal 4: The rate of Disproportionate Minority Contact in Connecticut will decrease. Objectives through 12/31/13: • Legislation will be passed to mandate DMC-related data collection on an annual basis (for Relative Rate Index calculation). • Key stakeholders (including schools) will have an increased awareness, knowledge, and understanding of (A) the connection between DMC and delinquency, especially at problematic decision-making points (see 2008 JJAC research findings) and (B) promising practices to reduce DMC. • Key stakeholders will have increased buy-in re: the importance of / need for meaningful DMC reduction initiatives / direct action. Rationale: New JJAC and national research as well as partner concern indicates DMC to be an important issue in Connecticut and nationwide, and one that affects the ability to reduce the size of the JJ system overall.

10. Program Goal 5: Emergent mission-critical priorities will be addressed as they arise. Objectives through 12/31/13: • Actors within the system will take advantage of unforeseen opportunities to address emerging issues and create further reform. • New understandings of problems within the system will be acknowledged and addressed proactively, quickly, and effectively. • The current system reform gains and conditions will be maintained (i.e., no backsliding). Rationale: It is important that the Alliance strategic plan recognize the ever-changing external circumstances and environment in which we work. As has happened in the past, events might occur that we cannot foresee today, which in turn would require us to act either offensively or defensively. We will, in the coming five years, witness new positive opportunities to tackle problems, or need to defend against proposed negative changes to the JJ system.