Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy




Statement of Purpose

We dedicate ourselves to working in partnership to enhance the capacity of Pennsylvania ’s juvenile justice system to achieve its balanced and restorative justice mission by:   

 

Endorsed by:  Juvenile Court Judges' Commission

                          Pa. Council of Chief Juvenile Probation Officers

                          Juvenile Justice Deliniquency Prevention Committee of the Pa. Commission on Crime and Delinquency

 

Published Resources

Aftercare

Probation Case Management Essentials for Youth 
in Placement
This document provides a structured approach for implementing case management best practices for youth in placement, including risk/need assessment, the development of a "single plan", rewards and sanctions, and reintegrating the youth into the community with appropriate services.

Educational Aftercare & Reintegration Toolkit for
Juvenile Justice Professionals
Youth who are adjudicated delinquent frequently encounter problems in obtaining appropriate educational services in placement, as well as when they return home. This "toolkit" provides basic information and resources to help juvenile justice professionals overcome these problems.

Joint Policy Statement on Aftercare
The Joint Policy Statement on Aftercare was developed by stakeholders in Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system and sets forth the goals of comprehensive aftercare reform.

 

 

Pennsylvania Progress: Aftercare Reality and Reform This issue of Pennsylvania Progress, a publication of the National Center for Juvenile Justice, focuses on the status of goals relating to the Joint Policy Statement on Aftercare. 


Consequences of Juvenile Court Records

Pa. Juvenile Collatera Consequences Checklist
The purpose of the Pennsylvania Juvenile Collateral Consequences Checklist is to provide attorneys, judges and other juvenile justice professionals with the most up-to-date information available on the short-term and long-term consequences of juvenile adjudications of delinquency.

Pa. Juvenile Collateral Consequences
Checklist (Poster)
This poster summarizes the issues identified in the Pa. Juvenile Collateral Consequences Checklist.


Detention Assessment

Juvenile Detention Risk Assessment


Disproportionate Minority Contact

Guidelines for Collecting the Race and Ethnicity of
Juveniles in Conjunction with Juvenile Court 
Dispositions
This document provides guidance to juvenile probation departments regarding the collection of race and ethnicity data in conjunction with reporting juvenile delinquency dispositions to the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission.

 

Pennsylvania Progress:  Doing Something about DMC 
This issue of Pennsylvania Progress, a publication of the National Center for Juvenile Justice, focuses on Pennsylvania's national leadership in understanding and addressing miniority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system.


Diversion

 

Guide to Developing Pre-Adjudication Diversion
Policy and Practice in Pennsylvania
Diversion is both a process and a program. This guide provides juvenile justice professionals with best practice considerations regarding the development of diversion policies and protocols.

 


Evidence-based Programs

The Economic Return on PCCD's Investment in
Research-based Programs
This 2008 research study, conducted by the Prevention Research Center at Penn State University, concluded that evidence-based programs supported by PCCD over the preceding 10 years not only paid for themselves, but represented a potential $317 million return to the Commonwealth in terms of reduced correctional costs welfare and behavioral health treatment and increased employment and tax revenue.

 

Reducing Youth Violence and Delinquency in
Pennsylvania
This 2007 report, completed by the Prevention Research Center at Penn State University, documents outcomes of evidence-based programs supported by PCCD, and the impact of the initiative on adolescents throughout the Commonwealth.


Family Involvement

Family Involvement in Pennsylvania's Juvenile
Justice System
Involvement of families is critical to the success of children in the juvenile justice system. This monograph serves as the beginning of an important dialogue between families, youth, victims and system professionals to develop strategies to support family involvement consistent with the principles of balanced and restorative justice.


Mental Health / Juvenile Justice

Mental Health / Juvenile Justice Joint Policy Statement
The Mental Health / Juvenile Justice Joint Policy Statement sets forth a vision for a model system that includes the goals of screening and assessment, self-incrimination protections, diversion, evidence-based treatment and family involvement.

Improving and Coordinating Access to Mental Health Service for Youth in Pennsylvania's Juvenile Justice System
This document outlines approaches and opportunities for the juvenile justice and mental health systems to better respond to the needs of the large number of youth with mental health needs who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.

Pennsylvania Progress:  Addressing the Behavioral 
Health Needs of Court-Involved Youth
This issue of Pennsylvania Progress, published by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, focused on Pennsylvania's efforts to create a comprehensive model for addressing the needs of youth with behavioral health disorders in the juvenile justice system.

Mental Health Screening within Juvenile Justice: 
The Next Frontier
This report discusses issues surounding the mental health screening of children in the juvenile justice system including procedures, policies and implementaion issues.

MAYSI-2 Reference Guide 

 


Quality Improvement Initiative (Qii)

 

Pennsylvania Progress:  Raising the Bar:  Pennsylvania's Long-term Strategy for Improving Delinquency Practice Statewide
This issue of Pennsylvania Progress, published by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, focuses on the background and components of Pennsylvania's
Quality Improvement Initiative (Qii).

 


Self-Incrimination Protections

Act 109 of 2008 [HB 1511(4439)]
Act 109 of 2008 amended Pennsylvania's Juvenile Act to provide children with self-incrimination protections for statements made during screening, assessment and evaluation.

Protecting Youth From Self-Incrimination
This monograph reviews state statutes to determine what safeguards exist to protect young people in the juvenile justice system from self-incrimination as a result of screening and assessment to identify, evaluate and treat behavioral health disorders.


Youth Level of Service Risk / Need Assessment

 Pa. YLS Inventory Rating Guide    JCMS YLS Assessment Summary



RESOURCES

PCCD'S Resource Center for Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Programs and Practices

Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Services Center (EPISCenter): www.episcenter.psu.edu