Juveniles

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Each year, approximately 100,000 youth under the age of 18 leave secure residential facilities, including juvenile facilities, jails and prisons, following adjudication.¹ Many youth in the juvenile justice system struggle with educational deficiencies, mental illnesses, and substance abuse, and return to communities with high rates of crime and poverty and poorly performing schools. Youth who are released from institutional confinement are more likely to succeed if they have access to services that can help them thrive in a noninstitutional environment. Discharge planning, educational and vocational programs, housing assistance, substance abuse and mental health treatment, and life skills training can reduce recidivism and help youth build healthy, productive futures.

Key Resources

Breaking Schools’ Rules: A Statewide Study on How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement, Council of State Governments Justice Center (2011)

In 2011, the CSG Justice Center, in partnership with the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University, released an unprecedented statewide study of nearly 1 million Texas public secondary school students, followed for at least six years. Among its startling findings are that the majority of students were suspended or expelled between seventh to twelfth grade. To download this publication, click here.
Webinar: Best Practices in Behavioral Health Treatment for Juveniles Returning from Out-of-Home Placement, National Reentry Resource Center (2012)

On May 7, 2012, the National Reentry Resource Center hosted this webinar, which focused on identifying behavioral needs and delivering treatment based on best practices while youth are in placement. Speakers discussed the use of risk and needs assessments to properly balance youths’ criminogenic risk factors with their behavioral health treatment needs in developing treatment plans that will prepare them for reentry. To watch a recording of this webinar, click here. To download a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation used in this webinar, click here.
Webinar: Education and the World of Work: Anchors to a Strong Juvenile Reentry Plan, National Reentry Resource Center (2011)

On June 15, 2011, the National Reentry Resource Center hosted this webinar, which described the elements of strong educational programs in residential facilities, strategies for ensuring continuity to community-based academic and vocational programs, and the roles different juvenile justice system parties have played in ensuring educational opportunities for youth committed to placement. To watch a recording of the webinar, click here. To download a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation used in the webinar, click here.
Five Emerging Practices in Juvenile Reentry, National Reentry Resource Center (2011)

In this article, published in the May 2011 National Reentry Resource Center Newsletter, Shay Bilchik, Director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University Public Policy Institute and Chair of the NRRC's Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice, describes five key areas emerging in youth reentry policy and practice, as well as resources in each area available from the NRRC.
Improving Delinquency Outcomes for Abused and Neglected Children: Changing the Paradigm Through Multi-System Collaboration, Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (2010)

On October 24, 2010, the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University hosted a briefing on "Juvenile Justice in the Age of the Second Chance Act, the Youth Promise Act, and the JJDP Reauthorization Bill: Research Guided Policy Implications for Maximizing Reentry Initiatives for Adolescents." The video below features the presentation of Shay Bilchik, Director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University Public Policy Institute. Mr. Bilchik’s presentation explores the pathway from the child welfare system to the juvenile justice system and presents practice and system responses that serve to improve outcomes for youth who are involved in both systems. Videos of other speakers at the briefing are available at http://gunston.gmu.edu/cebcp/Briefings/juvenilejustice.html.
Webinar: Identifying and Engaging Reentry Mentors for Justice-Involved Youth, National Reentry Resource Center (2010)

On November, 1, 2010, the National Reentry Resource Center and The Center for Advancement of Mentoring hosted a webinar on engaging family members in reentry efforts and identifying pro-social support for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. This webinar focused on incorporating juvenile justice-involved youth's family and social network into reentry mentoring programs. Speakers discussed identifying, recruiting, and training “natural mentors,” such as extended family members, teachers, or neighbors, to work alongside other reentry program-assigned mentors to help youth better transition back into the community and in many instances into adulthood. To watch the webinar, please click here. To download the PowerPoint slides used in this webinar, please click here.
Webinar: Family Engagement in Reentry for Justice-Involved Youth, National Reentry Resource Center (2010)

On October 4, 2010, the National Reentry Resource Center and the Center for the Advancement of Mentoring hosted a webinar on engaging family members in reentry efforts and identifying pro-social support for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. To watch the webinar, please click here. To download the PowerPoint presentation used in this webinar, please click here.
Webinar: Juvenile Reentry in Concept and Practice, National Reentry Resource Center (2010)
This webinar, held on January 26th, 2010, featured David M. Altschuler, Ph.D., principal research scientist at the Institute for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and Shay Bilchik, founder and director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University Public Policy Institute. The webinar addressed the key components of juvenile reentry, including assessing and classifying reoffending risk, needs, and strengths; balancing social control and services; and blending sanctions and incentives into a graduated response system designed to promote law abidance and prosocial behavior change. To download the PowerPoints used in this presentation, click here. To view the recording of the webinar, click here.

Supporting Youth in Transition to Adulthood: Lessons Learned from Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice, Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice Reform / Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative (2009)
This paper discusses the successes and challenges that juvenile justice and child welfare agencies face in preparing the youth they serve for a successful adulthood. The paper describes assessment, case management, and other practices implemented in either system that have shown promise in improving outcomes for the transition-age population.
Rehabilitating and Reintegrating Youth Offenders: Are Residential and Community Aftercare Colliding Worlds and What Can Be Done About It?, Justice Policy Journal (2008)
This paper identifies evidence-based strategies and promising practices that address the divergence between residential and aftercare services for youth.