Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Annie E. Casey Foundation active in Texas on juvenile justice

Thanks to an email from TCJC I discover that the Annie Casey Foundation held a national conference last month in Dallas on juvenile justice alternatives, and also get more information about a new project they've funded in Houston.

Conference on Reducing Over-Use of Juvenile Detention Held in Dallas Discussion included best practices & accomplishments

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) funds local juvenile jurisdictions to develop data-driven solutions to juvenile detention overcrowding. The 15th annual JDAI Inter-Site Conference was held from September 25-27, 2007, in Dallas, TX.

At the conference, 500 juvenile practitioners from various JDAI sites gathered to discuss major accomplishments, share information, and review best practices. Browse through the JDAI Inter-Site Conference 2007 website to look at some of the presentations and handouts from the workshops.

A new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Beyond Detention: System Transformation Through Juvenile Detention Reform, finds that sites with nationally renowned juvenile detention reform initiatives see major improvements within their juvenile justice systems as a whole. The report also suggests that key detention reform strategies help young people re-integrate into their communities more effectively and reduce recidivism.

Houston Receives Grant that will Reduce Juvenile Detention Overcrowding

Grant Promises a Solution to Chronic Problem

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has given Harris County a $300,000 grant to implement alternative measures to placing non-violent youth in juvenile detention. Research shows that juveniles who are detained are more likely to end up in TYC facilities and Texas prisons.

Analysts and researchers will work with juvenile court judges, juvenile probation, prosecutors and community members to develop solutions while maintaining public safety. Read the full story.

Browse through their website if you're interested in juvenile corrections, not just the conference materials, but also their Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative "Help Desk" website, which has a wealth of information on it.

3 comments:

  1. Grits,

    That Annie Casey JDAI report should be required reading for your TYC audience, for the lege, and for TYC administration.

    It addresses all of the major issues surrounding the current TYC crisis.

    Bill Bush

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  2. Annie E. Casey Foundation has been instrumental in helping Missouri create and maintain the "Missouri Model." Again. The good senators aren't really interested in solutions because every time the people who have those answers try to speak, they are shoved to the side.

    To fix TYC, we need to clear the Lege out and replace these men with legislators who are not in the pockets of the Detention Industrial Complex. Whitmire has got to go before the kids can be helped.

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  3. 6:53, right on.

    You know, the dumbest part about the lege's current approach is that it isn't even going to save them as much money as a more honest, open-ended search for a long-term solution would.

    All of the smoke and mirrors over the past few months have been geared toward making the scandal go away and saving money, but neither of those goals has been accomplished.

    BB

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