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Introductions. Agenda. Why are we here today?. Learning Objectives. Participants will gain an understanding of: Six juvenile justice settings The advantages and challenges of offering mentoring services within each setting
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Learning Objectives • Participants will gain an understanding of: • Six juvenile justice settings • The advantages and challenges of offering mentoring services within each setting • Promising practices mentoring within or in partnership with each setting with a focus on the referral stage
Project Overview • The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is a leader in recognizing that well-designed and well-implemented mentoring can have a tremendous, positive impact on a youth's life chances in particular, “high-risk” youth.
Project Overview • OJJDP funded Researching theReferral Stage of Youth Mentoring in Six Juvenile Justice Settings: • Juvenile Corrections • Juvenile Detention • Juvenile Probation • Delinquency Court • Youth/Teen Court • Dependency Court
Project Overview • This exploratory research is designed to inform the mentoring referral process for delivery of mentoring services to “high-risk” youth for the purpose of reducing delinquent behavior, alcohol and drug abuse, truancy, and other problem behaviors.
Research Questions • What are the best practices in identifying and referring youth to mentoring programs across distinct juvenile justice settings? • What is the capacity of the mentoring community to support the youth identified for mentoring from six juvenile justice settings? • What intermediate outcomes are achieved by mentoring throughout the settings?
Juvenile Detention Secure facilities that provide for the short-term, temporary, safe custody of juveniles alleged to have committed a delinquent act/offense
Juvenile Corrections Secure, residential facilities that provide for the long-term, safe custody of juveniles adjudicated on felony or multiple misdemeanor offenses. These facilities typically are considered to be high security.
Juvenile Probation • Community-based corrections program where probation officers supervise and monitor youth under court jurisdiction, ensuring they comply with all court orders. Probation officer provides direction, guidance, rehabilitation.
Delinquency Court Delinquency Courts have jurisdiction over juveniles, juvenile delinquents, status offenders and children and youth in need of supervision. The Delinquency Court is most commonly associated with the Juvenile Justice System and juveniles who have committed a crime, status offense and/or violation.
Youth Court/ Teen Court Diversion programs in which peers sentence juveniles for minor crimes, offenses and/or violations. These programs are administered locally by law enforcement agencies, probation departments, delinquency courts, schools and local nonprofit organizations.
Dependency Court The Dependency Court is most commonly associated with foster care, abuse and neglect issuesinvolving children and youth younger than 18.
Juvenile Detention While mentoring is not used as a diversion from adjudication per se, it is, in many instances, viewed as one component of a holistic approach to delinquency prevention and intervention.
Who refers youth in JJ settings? Probation officers Judges Magistrates Social Workers and Case Managers Public Defenders Administrative Office of the Courts Police Officers Court Clerks Public Defenders School Officials and Administrators
Key Findings: National Survey Risk Assessment Prior to Referral De Majority of juvenile justice settings reported between 76 to 100% of youth are charged with a crime prior to being referred to a mentoring program Relatedly, the majority of juvenile justice settings reported always assessing youth for their level of risk prior to making a referral to mentoring program.
Key Findings: National Survey and Site Visits Top Reasons for Match Failure
Key Findings: Site Visits Mentoring juvenile justice youth is more successful when mentoring program staff are involved in regular probation or other staff meetings.
Key Findings: Site Visits Youth have a greater degree of commitment to the mentoring experience when participation is voluntary.
Key Findings: Site Visits Mentor/staff should have a background understanding of the Juvenile Justice System.
Key Findings: Site Visits Probation officers and other juvenile justice staff working in close partnership with mentoring program staff is key to successes.
Definition of Embedded Programs • A program that is housed inside a juvenile justice setting either: • developed by the juvenile justice setting or • implemented by an outside mentoring program
Key Findings: Site VisitsReported Advantages of Embedded Mentoring Programs
Specialized Programs Mentoring programs with a specificand/or sole purpose of serving youth from a specific JJ setting have an advantageous level of knowledge, skill and ability in providing effective mentoring services for a wide range of high-risk youth involved in JJ settings.
Youth in longer-termplacements can build longer-term mentoring relationships.
Resources: Profiles, MOUs, and Elements of Effective Practice
Resources: Setting Profiles • Overview of content: • Definition of Setting • Youth Served • Frequently Asked Questions • What's Working • Example of Promising Strategies • Challenges and Action Steps • Terms and Definitions • Resources
Resources: MOU’s • Overview of content: • Definitions • Tips and Strategies for Writing MOU’s • Policy and Programmatic Discussion Points • Training and Technical Assistance Resources
The MOU provides a structure for a working relationship and clarifies what each of the partners will do to further the collaboration.
Juvenile Detention Secure facilities that provide for the short-term, temporary, safe custody of juveniles alleged to have committed a delinquent act/offense
Juvenile Corrections Secure, residential facilities that provide for the long-term, safe custody of juveniles adjudicated on felony or multiple misdemeanor offenses. These facilities typically are considered to be high security.
