Systems in Crisis: Revamping the Juvenile Justice Workforce and Core Strategies for Improving Public Safety and Youth Outcomes

Hosted by The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, the Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute, and supported by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 

Juvenile corrections and probation agencies have long struggled to recruit and retain front-line staff. But since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic, these challenges have reached unprecedented levels. Public agencies are struggling to provide youth with even basic supervision and services and to safeguard the well-being of their staff and the youth they serve. Staffing shortages extend to public defenders and prosecutors, forcing youth to go without counsel and causing court delays. And service providers can’t maintain adequate staffing, which results in overcrowding, waiting lists, or leaving youth and families without viable options to get their critical needs met. 

In this webinar, we will highlight key messages from our brief, “Systems in Crisis: Revamping the Juvenile Justice Workforce and Core Strategies for Improving Public Safety and Youth Outcomes,” and accompanying fact sheets that detail shorter-term hiring and retention best practices that can help jurisdictions rethink their juvenile justice workforce. 

In the brief, we call on policymakers and juvenile justice system leaders nationwide to wrestle with three critical questions that sit at the heart of ongoing staffing instability:  

1. Who are the individuals who should be responsible for protecting community safety and working with the most vulnerable adolescents in your state or community?  
2. What treatment environments best support improved public safety and outcomes not only for youth but for the professionals who are responsible for their safety, supervision, and rehabilitation? 
3. What interventions matter when it comes to reducing recidivism and supporting youth to transition to a crime-free, productive adulthood?  

Speakers: 

• Josh Weber, Deputy Division Director, Corrections and Reentry, CSG Justice Center 
• Michael Umpierre, Director, Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice Reform
• Mindy Smith, Executive Director, University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute 

This project is funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Juvenile Justice System Reform Initiative Grant #15PJDP-21-GK-03216-JRIX.