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OPPORTUNITIES FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM

Develop a nation wide juvenile justice program similar to the successful Massachusetts Experiment. Invest in a network of decentralized community-based services and several small, secure units for violent juvenile offenders.

Improving conditions of confinement- Closing large institutions and reinvesting in community-based programs

Retaining juveniles in the juvenile justice system: Raising the age of exclusive juvenile court jurisdiction. To keep more of the youth in the juvenile system and not adult prison.

Improving access to and quality of mental health services- Reforms include statewide mental health screening for all youth and for all youth on probation. Special mental health courts, omnibus mental health legislation, and statewide multijurisdictional crisis intervention teams.

Providing quality defense services—Reforms to improve access to and quality of defense services.. The National Juvenile Defender Center is working to promote a variety of reforms, such as standardizing indigence determination and statewide resource center, creation of a statewide system of defender offices, and development of competency protocols and draft legislation.

Providing access to educational programs in detention and post release— local school districts to provide educational services during the school year to juveniles held in adult jails and to comply with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for all jailed juveniles with disabilities.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/14685.