Employing an Intentional Mentoring Model for Delinquent Youth.

Employing an Intentional Mentoring Model for Delinquent Youth Delinquent youth often do not receive the opportunity to be mentored. This is especially true for youth who have committed serious law violations and are detained. In Nebraska, the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers (YRTCs) are the highest level of care for delinquent youth within the state. Under Nebraska law, a youth is committed to the YRTC only after all community-based services and every level of probation supervision has been exhausted (Sec. 43-286). In 2011, the Juvenile Justice Institute (JJI) agreed to teach a course on mentoring delinquent youth and to match university undergraduates to YRTC youth returning to the community. JJI anticipated it might be a short-lived course, as undergraduate students have relatively little “real life” experience, and they were being matched with high-need delinquent youth. JJI has operated the Juvenile Reentry Mentoring Project (JRMP) from 2011 to the present. If a traditional mentoring approach had been employed, it is likely that the program would have ended due to an inability to sustain matches. Instead, the project has been successful for both students and youth. Over the life of the project, a mixed methodical approach has been utilized to analyze and shape the Juvenile Reentry Mentoring Project (JRMP) model. Quantitative data were collected to inform the theory of change and create a program designed to serve the needs of a deep end juvenile justice population. Qualitative data was gathered from student participants. Results indicate that trust is an essential component of mentoring youth deep in the juvenile justice system

Evaluation of System Improvement Funding FY 2019-2020

The U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has long held that strong communities are a salient factor in reducing delinquency (1995). They specifically note, “community planning teams that include a partnership of agency and lay participants can help create a consensus on priorities and services to be provided. They also build support for a comprehensive approach that draws on all sectors of the community for participation, such as the criminal justice and juvenile justice systems” (National Juvenile Justice Plan, 1996). Prior research has noted that successful collaborations seem to tap into the group’s potential using a specific formula. This creates a certain synergy within the group. In 2011, Kania and Kramer provided a framework that outlined “the five conditions for collective success,” which brought to life the notion of Collective Impact. While successful collaborations had surely tapped into these elements before, Kania and Kramer (2011) outlined them in a way that succinctly captured the critical elements of success and the movement caught fire. In Nebraska, community planning has been organized under the philosophy of collective impact since 2009

Juvenile Reentry Mentoring Program

CPACS Urban Research Awards Part of the mission of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) is to conduct research, especially as it relates to concerns of our local and statewide constituencies. CPACS has always had an urban mission, and one way that mission is served is to preform applied research relevant to urban society in general, and the Omaha metropolitan area and other Nebraska urban communities in particular. Beginning in 2014, the CPACS Dean provided funding for the projects with high relevance to current urban issues, with the potential to apply the findings to practice in Nebraska, Iowa, and beyond

Diversion in Nebraska: FY 2012/2013

Among the many initiatives created with the passage of LB 561, the position of the Juvenile Diversion Program Administrator was established within the Nebraska Crime Commission. The Diversion Administrator is tasked with assisting in creating and maintaining juvenile pretrial diversion programs to divert juveniles away from the judicial system and into community-based services. That process includes creating a statewide steering committee to assist in regular strategic planning related to supporting, funding, monitoring, and evaluating the effectiveness of plans and programs receiving funds from the Community-Based Juvenile Services Aid Program, as well as provide best practice recommendation guidelines and procedures used to develop or expand local juvenile diversion programs

The Juvenile Reentry Mentoring Project: Adaptations During COVID-19

Delinquent youths oft en do not receive the opportunity to be mentored. Th is is especially true for youths who have committed serious law violations or are detained for multiple law violations. In the United States, youths with the most serious off enses are oft en committed to detention, or rehabilitation, or treatment centers. Since 2011, the Juvenile Reentry Mentoring Project (JRMP) has matched mentors to youths detained in Nebraska Detention, and Treatment Facilities. Th e Nebraska Youth Rehabilitation, and Treatment Centers (YRTCs), specifi cally, are for youths with the highest level of needs and who have exhausted all other programs available in the community. From 2011 through February 2020, the JRMP developed as an evidence informed model for mentoring juveniles with the highest level of need and the most serious law violations. Th e onset of the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted youths in detention and treatment centers, and mentoring programs such as the JRMP adapted to continue to meet existing and emerging needs of youths. Th e aim of this article is to report on the evidence-based development of the JRMP and the adaptations that were necessary for it to continue to operate during COVID-19. We close with recommendations and lessons learned from the pandemic and ways that programs can resist a return to the status quo

Analysis of the Nebraska Intake Risk Assessment Instrument

Under current Nebraska law, a youth in Nebraska should be placed in a secure detention facility for only two reasons: (1) “immediate and urgent necessity for the protection of such juvenile or the person or property of another or (2) if it appears that such juvenile is likely to flee the jurisdiction of the court” (Rev. Stat. § 43-251.01(5)). In the State of Nebraska, the Office of Juvenile Probation Administration screens youth using the Nebraska Juvenile Intake Screening Risk Assessment prior to making a determination whether to detain the youth. The assessment is referred to in this report as the Risk Assessment Instrument (RAI) (Office of Probation Administration, 2013). The Office of Probation contracted with the University of Nebraska Omaha’s Juvenile Justice Institute to assess whether the RAI effectively predicts which youth pose a threat to the community (will commit a new law violation) or fail to attend their scheduled court date (flee the court’s jurisdiction). Data was provided by the Office of Probation Administration and included juvenile intakes for whom a Risk Assessment Instrument was completed between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2014

The Lancaster County Juvenile Reentry Project - Follow-up Report

In 2011, Lancaster County received a planning grant under the Second Chance Act administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Using these funds, a team of stakeholders examined the limited reentry services available to juveniles who return to Lancaster County after a stay in a Nebraska Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center (YRTC). The following year, Lancaster County officials brought together multiple agencies to develop a systematic juvenile reentry approach, which subsequently became known as the Lancaster County Juvenile Reentry Project. From January 1, 2013 to June 30, 2015, a total of 126 youth were served under the Reentry Project

State of Juvenile Justice Report: 2014

The 2014 State of Juvenile Justice Report provides a snapshot of the juvenile justice system in Nebraska, with a specific focus on the current legislative context and an examination of three key points in the system: diversion, probation, and detention. Trends within the juvenile justice system should be analyzed against the backdrop of statewide shifts that are a result of legislative mandates. In particular, Legislative Bill 561 has altered the juvenile justice landscape. Passed in 2013, LB 561 required communities to use programs aligned with evidence-based practices or best practices, with the goal of diverting youth out of the formal system and reducing the number of youth in detention. The new emphasis on evidence-based practices highlights a commitment to identifying programs and reforms that are truly effective. Reform efforts of this magnitude require time to allow for evaluation assessment, careful implementation of revised programming, and re-evaluation. The Juvenile Justice Institute (JJI) is committed to following these reform efforts and conducting ongoing evaluations of Nebraska’s progress. JJI is a research unit within the University of Nebraska Omaha’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. JJI provides technical assistance and completes policy and program evaluations for state and local agencies, as well as private organizations. JJI also partners with policymakers, practitioners, and criminal justice faculty to explore the most effective and practical juvenile justice strategies and programs

Justice Assistance Grant Strategic Plan 2016 to 2018

n 2015, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) began working in conjunction with Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (Nebraska Crime Commission or NCC) to create a 3-year strategic plan for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) funding. The JAG Program, (42 U.S.C. § 3751(a)) is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions, providing critical funding necessary to support a range of program areas. JAG funding is awarded annually and the applicant must show how funds will be used to improve or enhance the criminal justice system

Evidence Based Practice in Juvenile Justice: Nebraska White Paper

This White Paper is the product of the collaborative effort of the University of Nebraska/Lincoln (UNL) Law and Psychology Program, the University of Nebraska/Omaha (UNO) Consortium for Crime and Justice Research and the UNO Juvenile Justice Institute. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview for understanding, testing, and developing Evidence Based Practice (EBP) interventions that make rehabilitative services available to children in the juvenile justice system. The paper begins with a summary of a proposal for a classification system of EBP programs in the Juvenile Justice System in Nebraska and then goes on to explain the logic of the classification system