northern california ojjdp 2012 training
TRANSCRIPT
Mentoring High-Risk Youth in Juvenile Justice Settings
Welcome to theCalifornia Mentoring Partnership,
Northern California Training!Trainers: Sarah Kremer and Roger Jarjoura, Ph.D.
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• Promising practices mentoring within or in
partnership with each setting with a focus on the referral stage
Definitions
Juvenile Detention
Juvenile Corrections
Juvenile Probation
Delinquency Court
Youth Court/Teen
Court
Dependency Court
Six Juvenile Justice 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.
What is the difference between
detention and
corrections?
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 issues involving children and youth younger than 18.
Project Overview
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 the Referral 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.
Partner Organizations
MENTOR
Global Youth Justice
National Partnership for Juvenile Services
Research Team
J. Mitchell Miller, Ph.D.
Holly V. Miller, Ph.D.
J.C. Barnes, Ph.D.
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?
Qualitative Data
Site visits
Interviews with staff and administrators
Questionnaires
Quantitative Data: Survey Sample
The survey netted a large
sample size (N = 1,197)
All 50 United States were
represented by the survey
respondents
Program respondents hailed from a
variety of community types
ranging from urban, suburban, rural, and tribal communities.
Key Findings
Juvenile DetentionWhile 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.
Conceptual Model of the “Typical” Referral Process
Step 1
• Identification phase• Sources of identification: law enforcement or juvenile probation, family, social worker
Step 2
• Court appearance• Types of court: youth, family, dependency, delinquency
Step3
• Eligibility assessment by court• Judge or other governing body assess youth for eligibility in mentor program
Step 4
• Referral to mentor program by court
Step 5
• Referral received by mentor program• Eligibility determination and assessment by mentor program
Step 6
• Potential mentor identified
Step 7
• Match made between mentor and mentee
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
• Juvenile justice settings use mentoring60%
• Mentoring programs serve youth from juvenile justice40%
• Mentoring programs use individually based mentoring80%
• More likely when programs utilized Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring
Positive Outcomes
Key Findings: National Survey
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
Youth or family refusal or lack of
support
Serious mental health issues on the part of the
youth
Lack of suitable adult mentors
Staff meetings
Mentoring juvenile justice youth is more successful when mentoring
program staff are involved in regular probation or other staff
meetings.
Key Findings: Site Visits
Voluntary participation
Youth have a greater degree of commitment to the
mentoring experience when participation is voluntary.
Key Findings: Site Visits
Knowledge about Juvenile Justice System
Mentor/staff should have a background understanding of the
Juvenile Justice System.
Key Findings: Site Visits
Close working partnerships
Probation officers and other juvenile justice staff working in close
partnership with mentoring program staff is key to successes.
Key Findings: Site Visits
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
Greater access to information about youth’s needs
More seamless referral process
Greater success in matching and shorter waiting lists
More understood and valued by juvenile justice staff
Better able to track youth’s long term outcomes
Key Findings: Site VisitsReported Advantages of Embedded Mentoring Programs
Specialized Programs
Mentoring programs with a specific and/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-term placements can
build longer-term mentoring
relationships.
Lunch Discussion Questions1.Why do mentoring programs want to work
with youth involved with juvenile probation?
2.Why do those who work in juvenile justice settings want youth involved with mentoring programs and mentors?
3.Which of our youth are best suited for mentoring?
Small GroupsHow are youth from this
setting identified and referred to mentoring
programs in our community? What works
well? What has not?
What best practices must we adopt in our
community in order to serve youth from this
juvenile justice setting?
What are the pros and cons of mentoring for youth involved in this
setting?
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
What is an MOU?Document that describes a common understanding of a
working relationship
Provides a framework for partnership
Not a binding contractOutlines a
commitment between parties
MOU
Why is an MOU
important?
The MOU provides a
structure for a working relationship and clarifies what each of the partners will do to further the
collaboration.
Opportunities for Partnership
Relationships MOUs
Additional Resources
Juvenile Detention
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention – Mentoring Resources
http://www.ojjdp.gov/programs/mentoring.html
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention – Model Program Guide/Mentoring
http://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/progTypesMentoring.aspx
Global Youth Justice Website – Mentoring High Risk Youth Resources
http://www.globalyouthjustice.org/Mentoring.html
National Partnership for Juvenile Services – Mentoring High Risk Youth Resources
http://www.npjs.org/
MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership
http://www.mentoring.org/