family engagement

The Juvenile Justice Research-to-Practice Implementation Resources provide juvenile justice agency managers, staff, and other practitioners with concrete strategies, tools, examples, and best-practice models to help them implement research-informed policies and practices and improve outcomes for youth in the juvenile justice system.

Access the available resources on Family Engagement and Involvement and Evidence-Based Programs and Services below.

Family Engagement and Involvement

Research shows that youth who have supportive caregivers have better outcomes than youth with less supportive caregivers. This is true across the juvenile justice, child welfare, behavioral health, and education systems. Youth whose caregivers do not provide consistent structure and support are at far greater risk of engaging in continued delinquent behavior and suffering poor behavioral health, education, and employment outcomes into adulthood. But practitioners often struggle to implement family engagement and involvement policies and practices effectively. Below are suggested strategies, tools, examples, and best-practice models from across the country that juvenile justice agency managers, staff, and other practitioners may consider adopting to effectively implement family engagement practices and promote positive outcomes for youth in the juvenile justice system.

Identifying family members or other supportive adults who can promote positive outcomes for youth

Supporting families in navigating the juvenile justice system and remaining involved with their children

Engaging families to play an active role in youth’s case planning and treatment

Establishing and tracking family engagement performance measures

Evidence-Based Programs and Services

Programs and services are considered evidence based when they have demonstrated effectiveness through scientific research and evaluation. Both research and field experience show that implementing evidence-based programs and services with fidelity correlates to reduced recidivism rates and improved outcomes for youth. Once juvenile justice agencies and contracted service providers institute such programs and services, however, they often encounter challenges in identifying the appropriate services and implementing them properly, consistently, and in ways that lead to better outcomes for youth. Among other approaches to these challenges, there are opportunities for state policymakers to enact legislation and funding incentives to encourage the adoption of effective service approaches at the state and local levels. Below are suggested strategies, examples, and best-practice models from across the country that state policymakers, juvenile justice agency administrators and managers, staff, and other practitioners may consider adopting to promote and effectively implement evidence-based programs and services with fidelity.

Identifying, funding, and promoting evidence-based programs and services

Matching youth to services based on their assessed risk of reoffending and criminogenic needs

Providing agency staff and service providers with sufficient training and oversight, and enacting quality assurance measures

Collecting, using, and reporting data on service provider outcomes to guide service and funding decisions

Additional Resources

For additional resources on applying research in juvenile justice practice, please see the Bridging Research and Practice Project to Advance Juvenile Justice and Safety.

Acknowledgments

These products are the result of a collaborative effort among CSG Justice Center staff and juvenile justice experts, practitioners, and advocates from across the country. The CSG Justice Center is grateful for the support and leadership of staff at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Thanks to these advisors and partners who generously gave their time and expertise*:

• Grace Bauer, Executive Director, Justice For Families
• Shay Bilchik, Director, Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University
• Stephanie Bradley, Director, Principal Investigator, The Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Support Center
• John DeWitt, Director of the Bureau of Research and Evaluation, Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services
• Dan Edwards, President, Evidence-Based Associates
• Peter Greenwood, Executive Director, Association for Advancement of Evidence-Based Practices
• Samantha Harvell, Senior Research Associate, Urban Institute
• Dan Jackson, Executive Director, Nebraska Family Support Network
• Mark Lipsey, Director, Peabody Research Institute; Research Professor, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University
• Ned Loughran, Executive Director, Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators
• Wendy Luckenbill, Senior Recovery and Resilience Specialist for Children, Youth, and Their Families, Community Care Behavioral Health
• De Shell Parker, Administrative Coordinator, Quality Assurance, Delinquency and Court Services Division, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Department of Health and Human Services
• Stephen Phillippi, Director, Institute for Public Health and Justice, Louisiana State University
• Ryan Shanahan, Research Director, Vera Institute of Justice
• Cara Stirts, Deputy County Attorney, Douglas County, Nebraska, Attorney’s Office, Juvenile Division
• Michael Umpierre, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University
• Clay Yeager, Senior Consultant, Evidence-Based Associates

* All titles reflect the positions held at the time of project involvement.

The CSG Justice Center is especially grateful to the following organizations for their permission to publish supplemental documents as part of the Juvenile Justice Research-to-Practice Implementation Resources: Delinquency and Court Services Division, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Department of Health and Human Services; Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services; Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Support Center; Justice For Families; Institute for Public Health and Justice, Louisiana State University; Division of Youth Services, Missouri Department of Social Services; Dallas County, Texas, Juvenile Department; and Douglas County, Nebraska, Attorney’s Office, Juvenile Division.

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