The Center for Juvenile Justice Training and Research: Improving the Practice of Juvenile Justice

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1 Juveile Justice Achievemets of the Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy April 1996 Vol. 3, No. 2 The Ceter for Juveile Justice Traiig ad Research: Improvig the Practice of Juveile Justice by Mega Clouser Pesylvaia s Juveile Court Judges Commissio was established i 1959 as a cetral agecy to provide leadership for ad improve the provisio of juveile justice services i Pesylvaia. From the begiig, the Commissio has embraced the philosophy that the best way to improve the quality of juveile justice i the Commowealth is to provide ehaced traiig ad educatio opportuities for juveile justice practitioers. I 1982, this philosophy foud a tagible home at Shippesburg Uiversity with the creatio of the Pesylvaia Ceter for Juveile Justice Traiig ad Research. What started out the as a oe-perso agecy dedicated solely to the provisio of graduatelevel educatio has grow ito a atioally recogized iformatio ad traiig hub for the practice of juveile justice. The growth of the Ceter to over twety staff ad may programs ca be directly attributed to its resposiveess to the chagig demads of Pesylvaia s juveile justice ad youth service systems. With each of the Ceter s programs Pesylvaia Progress is a publicatio of the Natioal Ceter for Juveile Justice (NCJJ) the research divisio of the Natioal Coucil of Juveile ad Family Court Judges. It is distributed to juveile justice professioals withi the Commowealth ad atiowide to acquait them with importat achievemets of the Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy. Techical Assistace materials ad additioal iformatio o the topics preseted are available from NCJJ's Harrisburg office. Please cotact Mega Clouser at (717) specifically desiged to meet a idetified eed, the work of the Ceter has reaped beefits for juveile justice professioals, Shippesburg Uiversity, youth ad, most importatly, Pesylvaia citizes. FROM VISION TO REALITY: CREATING THE CENTER Based upo the Commissio s philosophy that stresses the importace of cotiued educatio ad traiig, the Commissio s Executive Director udertook a missio to improve the availability of ad access to graduate-level educatio opportuities for juveile justice practitioers. With may of the existig crimial justice educatio programs focusig primarily o adult correctios, the Commissio idetified a eed to create a educatioal program that would address the specificatios of the juveile justice system. With the support of a promiet Commissio member, Judge Fred P. Athoy of Erie Couty, fudig was idetified withi the Commissio s aual budget to support the creatio of the Ceter for Juveile Justice Traiig ad Research. Through this fudig, oe employee was hired to develop ad direct a graduate educatio program icorporatig the philosophy, missio, ad fuctios of Pesylvaia s juveile justice system. To fid the most suitable base for the Ceter, the Juveile Court Judges Commissio set a request for proposals to all colleges ad uiversities i the Commowealth. After reviewig over twety-five resposes from iterested istitutios, the Commissio selected Shippesburg State Uiversity as the most appropriate locatio for the ew Ceter. 1

2 Accordig to Judge Athoy, Shippesburg was selected based upo the Uiversity s overall ethusiasm for the program, cetral locatio i the state, ad affordable tuitio rates. As Shippesburg Uiversity s Presidet Ceddia recalls, beig a member of the Pesylvaia State System of Higher Educatio, the Uiversity saw this as a uique opportuity for state agecies to combie resources for a mutually beeficial purpose. The Uiversity would support the educatio ad traiig eeds of the Juveile Court Judges Commissio, while the merger would ehace the Uiversity s crimial justice program by meldig academic expertise with the real-world experiece of practitioers. Graduate Educatio I 1982, Shippesburg Uiversity officially erolled the first class of studets i the Weeked Master s Program i the Admiistratio of Justice. I additio to meetig the educatioal eeds of juveile justice practitioers, the weeked schedule was developed to allow full-time employees access to the program. Through aual fudig appropriated by the state legislature, the Juveile Court Judges Commissio is able to support full-tuitio ad boardig expeses for Pesylvaia juveile probatio officers attedig the program thereby limitig the fiacial obstacles to the pursuit of a higher educatio. Cadidates for the program are carefully selected based o their potetial for academic success ad performace as probatio officers. As the Commowealth is supportig educatioal expeses, cadidates also agree to a formal cotract requirig the reimbursemet of fuds to the Commowealth if the cadidate either fails to complete the program or does ot cotiue employmet as a public juveile justice practitioer for a desigated period upo graduatio. The coursework completed i this program has also bee specially desiged to provide juveile justice practitioers with a theoretical framework of the crimial ad juveile justice systems, effective strategies for admiistratio ad maagemet of juveile probatio departmets, ad a workig kowledge of social research methods that eables the effective iterpretatio ad utilizatio of programmatic reports. offered through Mercyhurst College i Erie, Pesylvaia, offers a similar curriculum program to juveile justice practitioers i orthwester Pesylvaia who were hidered by distace from attedig the Shippesburg program. Through these two programs, over 275 Pesylvaia juveile court persoel (icludig oe-quarter of all chief juveile probatio officers i the Commowealth) have received their Master of Sciece Degrees i the Admiistratio of Justice. BRANCHING OUT: THE GROWTH OF THE CENTER Professioal Traiig I additio to graduate educatio opportuities, the Juveile Court Judges Commissio perceived the eed for aual traiig for juveile justice practitioers o topics of immediate cocer for service delivery. To fulfill this eed, the Ceter expaded to provide aual traiig programs for juveile probatio officers icludig a required two-part orietatio sessio for ewly hired probatio officers titled, "The Juveile Justice Academy: Orietatio for the New Professioal." I additio to the required orietatio for ew officers, Sprig ad Fall traiig schedules are preseted each year that allow idividual couty probatio departmets ad/or idividual probatio officers the opportuity to select the traiig programs most suited to their eeds. Traiig is offered i five primary areas: Skill Buildig to teach specific skills eeded i service provisio; Iformatioal/Professioal Developmet to broade the practitioers iformatio base ad expad awareess o youth problems; Motivatioal to help practitioers deal with the high stress ad low job satisfactio ofte associated with this professio; Maagemet/Supervisory to teach effective leadership ad maagemet strategies; ad The program was received with such ethusiasm that the Ceter opeed a secod graduate educatio program i 1986 to meet demad. This program, Staff Safety to help probatio officers achieve persoal safety i a icreasigly dagerous field. 2

3 April 1996 The Juveile Court Judges Commissio provides couty juveile probatio departmets with fudig to offset the cost of attedig the traiig semiars. The Commissio requires every probatio officer to complete a miimum of forty traiig hours per year. Statistical Aalysis Ceter Prior to the establishmet of the Ceter, the Juveile Court Judges Commissio had begu to collect ad dissemiate juveile deliquecy statistics for the Commowealth through a cotract with aother Pesylvaia uiversity. However, oce the Ceter had bee established at Shippesburg, the Commissio determied it would be both more cost effective ad productive to icorporate this program withi the Ceter. The trasfer of collectio resposibility from a outside etity to the Ceter allowed for both greater cotrol of ad access to this importat iformatio. Operatig though a grat from the Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy, the Statistical Aalysis Ceter is resposible for the collectio, aalysis, ad dissemiatio of juveile deliquecy ad depedecy iformatio i a aual report kow as Pesylvaia Juveile Court Dispositios. The Statistical Aalysis Ceter has expaded sigificatly over the years to hadle additioal data collectio resposibilities icludig the moitorig of secure detetio placemets (accordig to the Colema Coset Decree as discussed below) moitorig police log reports of juveiles detaied i police lockups, respodig to techical assistace requests for special data aalysis, ad the provisio of statistical expertise for research ad evaluatio projects udertake by the Ceter. The Statistical Aalysis Ceter is also ivolved i a ogoig effort with the Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy to automate the state s juveile justice system. Through this iitiative a special software package has bee desiged to assist couty probatio departmets at all levels of case maagemet. With the fiacial support of the Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy, approximately twety couties have bee able to istall this ew automatio software. Correctioal Traiig Program I 1984, the Pesylvaia Departmet of Public Welfare etered ito a cotract with the Ceter for the developmet ad delivery of a traiig program for the employees of its Youth Developmet Ceters ad Youth Forestry Camps for deliquet youths. The Departmet chose to utilize the Ceter for this fuctio due to its flexibility i providig the services ad its growig reputatio for excellece. Three types of traiig are provided to employees of the Youth Developmet Ceter ad Youth Forestry Camp system through this cotract: (1) madated traiig; (2) competecy-based traiig; ad (3) advaced skill developmet. The madated traiig ivolves skills assessed by the Departmet of Public Welfare as critical for all employees ad icludes such topics as cardiopulmoary resuscitatio, first aid, HIV educatio, child abuse, crisis itervetio, techiques of passive restrait, ad suicide itervetio. The Competecy-Based Traiig is a job-specific traiig program developed through the DACUM program (a acroym for Desigig A CurriculUM). The DACUM program is actually a process through which expert employees of a give job classificatio idetify the tasks, skills, ad kowledge ecessary for competet work performace. This iformatio is the icorporated through a curriculum developmet committee process ito job-specific traiig ad evaluatio mauals. Advaced skills traiig is the ewest compoet of the correctioal traiig program. This portio of traiig ivolves the acquisitio of skills ad kowledge to ehace performace beyod basic competecies ad to icrease the professioalism of employees. Topics curretly offered i advaced skill developmet iclude cultural competecy, group couselig, ad idividual couselig skills. Detetio Moitorig: The Colema Coset Decree The Colema Coset Decree (Colema, et al. vs. Staziai, et al., CA No ) took effect September 1, 1986, to gover the placemet of juveiles i secure detetio facilities i all Pesylvaia couties excludig Philadelphia couty. (Philadelphia couty was excluded from this settlemet 3

4 April 1996 as the oe detetio ceter operatig i Philadelphia couty already cotrolled by the court settlemet i Satiago V. the City of Philadelphia, Civil Actio No ) I short, the settlemet requires that for every situatio i which the use of secure detetio is to be cosidered, alterative forms of cotrol that could substatially reduce the risk of flight or dager to the child or commuity must be cosidered first ad give preferece. Whe secure detetio is determied to be the most suitable optio, the decree requires that a formal statemet of reasos for the placemet be provided. The Juveile Court Judges Commissio, assiged with the resposibility for moitorig compliace with the coset decree, established the Secure Detetio Moitorig Project withi the Ceter with fudig from the Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy. The Ceter proved the ideal locatio due to the already fuctioal statistical ceter which could efficietly collect ad compile data o the reasos for the use of secure detetio as required by the settlemet. The project also provides traiig to couty probatio ad detetio persoel o procedures for meetig the requiremets of the coset decree ad coducts aual audits to esure the iformatio beig collected is accurate ad complete. I additio to assurig compliace with this decree, the Ceter has joied forces with the Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy to aid i its related compliace moitorig activities uder the federal Juveile Justice ad Deliquecy Prevetio Act. CHILD WELFARE DIVISION Based upo the success of the correctioal traiig program, the Departmet of Public Welfare tured to the Ceter oce agai i 1988 for assistace i meetig its eeds this time i the realm of child depedecy issues. Through the progressio of three idepedet cotracts with the Office of Childre Youth ad Families, the Ceter has expaded to iclude a special Child Welfare Divisio. The Child Welfare Divisio provides data collectio, research ad techical assistace support to the Office of Childre Youth ad Families for its Idepedet Livig Iitiative, Family Preservatio Program, ad Child Abuse ad Family Service Program as described below. Idepedet Livig Project I 1988, the Departmet of Public Welfare s Office of Childre Youth ad Families sought the expertise of the Ceter i meetig federal requiremets o data collectio for its Idepedet Livig Iitiative. The Idepedet Livig Iitiative services youths ages sixtee to twety-oe who were i placemet i the childre ad youth system o or after their sixteeth birthday. Through this grat, the Ceter assumed resposibility for collectig ad maitaiig cliet specific data o all youths serviced by idepedet livig programs i the Commowealth. The provisios of this grat also provide for a techical assistace compoet to assist couty childre ad youth agecies i developig ad operatig effective idepedet livig programs, a research compoet for formal evaluatios of program effectiveess, ad a aual youth retreat held each summer at Shippesburg Uiversity. Family Preservatio Project The strog relatioship built betwee the Ceter ad the Office of Childre Youth ad Families through the Idepedet Livig Project led the Office to seek the Ceter s support for a similar edeavor ivolvig family preservatio efforts. The Family Preservatio Project is dedicated to providig short-term itesive services to families i crisis to avoid the removal of a child from the home. I 1989, the Departmet of Public Welfare cotracted with the Ceter for the collectio ad aalysis of cliet specific data for this iitiative ad the preparatio of a aual report for presetatio to the Pesylvaia state legislature. This grat also has icorporated techical assistace ad evaluatio compoets. Child Abuse ad Family Service Grat Program The ewest program operated by the Ceter s Child Welfare Divisio is the Child Abuse ad Family Service Grat Project iitiated by the Office of Childre Youth ad Families i Through this program, couties receive grat fuds to develop programs to meet specific eeds i their service area. The Child Welfare Divisio provides support to these programs by collectig ad aalyzig cliet specific data, evaluatig program outcomes, ad preparig a aual report for presetatio to the Departmet of 4

5 Public Welfare. This grat also icludes data collectio compoets cocerig state fudig to couties for (1) the developmet of drug ad alcohol assessmet ad treatmet services; ad (2) support for HIVifected ifats placed i foster care. RESEARCH AND EVALUATION I additio to specific programs, the Ceter has developed ito a valuable research ad evaluatio source for the Commowealth. The Ceter has a reputatio i the state ad atioally for producig quality research products o timely ad relevat topics i juveile justice. Examples of works completed through the Ceter iclude a evaluatio of the role of race i the state s juveile justice system, a evaluatio of efforts to reduce miority over-represetatio i the juveile justice system, a aalysis of recidivism rates of juveiles released from residetial facilities, ad a outcome study o Pesylvaia youths trasferred to crimial courts. Curretly, the Ceter is udertakig a causal study o the effects of child abuse ad eglect o juveile deliquecy. Through a sophisticated research desig cotrollig for other possible casual factors (i.e. geder, age, socioecoomic status, etc.) abuse ad eglect factors were isolated allowig for a comparative aalysis betwee maltreated youths ad their oabused ad o-eglected couterparts. Aother major udertakig of the Ceter is a cotract to maage the Pesylvaia compoet of a four-state study o the outcomes of juveiles trasferred to crimial courts. This study, oversee by the Natioal Ceter for Juveile Justice, will idetify ad track juveile offeders who are either waived to crimial courts or, excluded from the jurisdictio of juveile court o the basis of their age ad alleged offese. commuity service programs i Pesylvaia. This iitiative resulted i the developmet of a policy ad procedure maual to guide the developmet of safe commuity service programs ad the idetificatio of fudig to establish a state-wide isurace policy through the Juveile Court Judges Commissio to protect couties i the evet that: (1) a juveile caused further damage to perso or property durig the performace of commuity service; or (2) the juveile himself became ijured while participatig i the program. Aual Traiig Evet Each year the Ceter provides a featured traiig evet at the Juveile Court Judge s Commissio s Aual Awards ad Traiig Program. These popular traiig sessios atteded by more tha 500 juveile justice professioals have highlighted such importat topics as: Juveile Justice Reform: Promises Kept, Promised Broke; Crime, Kids ad Color: Race i the Juveile Justice System; ad From Armed Protectio to Public Protectio: The Evolutio of Juveile Justice. Five of these programs became PBS specials. School-Based Probatio Project The Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy i cojuctio with the Juveile Court Judges Commissio has supported the developmet of forty-two school-based probatio programs across the Commowealth sice The Ceter has take resposibility for providig traiig for school-based probatio officers icludig the productio of a School- Based Probatio Maual of Guidelies to be released i the Sprig of 1996 ad the cotractig of a formal evaluatio to assess the effectiveess of these ew programs. MISCELLANEOUS ENDEAVORS Commuity Service Project The Pesylvaia Juveile Court Judges Commissio has log supported the idea of commuity service ad restitutio programs as a meas for teachig youths accoutability. However, may Pesylvaia couties were costraied from developig these programs due to liability cocers. I 1985 the Ceter bega work to overcome some of the major obstacles hiderig the developmet of Commuities That Care I 1994, Pesylvaia bega implemetatio of the "Commuities That Care" risk-focused deliquecy prevetio program developed by J. David Hawkis ad Richard F. Catalao of the Uiversity of Washigto at Seattle. To aid i the implemetatio of this program, the Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy cotracted with the Ceter for the provisio of traiig ad techical assistace to fiftee participatig couties. 5

6 Video Ledig Library I 1985, the Ceter opeed a Video Ledig Library with aual membership available to state ad couty huma service programs. Participatig couties have access to more tha eighty videos coverig topics from iovative programmig to staff developmet. Juveile Justice Scholarship I 1986, the Ceter bega offerig a $500 scholarship awarded aually to a udergraduate studet at Shippesburg Uiversity who iteds to eter the juveile justice professio upo graduatio. The truly uique compoet of this scholarship is that it is made available by the cotributios of juveile probatio officers who have completed the Ceter s weeked masters program. DIRECTIONS I the fourtee years sice its establishmet, the Ceter has developed a state-wide reputatio for success i program developmet ad service delivery for the Commowealth. The cotiued reliace upo the Ceter by both the juveile justice ad child welfare systems attests to the Ceter's achievemets as well This project was supported by subgrat #92/93-J , awarded by the Pesylvaia Commissio o Crime ad Deliquecy (PCCD). The awarded fuds origiate with the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Departmet of Justice. Poits of view or opiios cotaied withi this documet are those of the author(s) ad do ot ecessarily represet ay official positio, policy or view of PCCD or the U.S. Departmet of Justice. as its potetial for the future. I additio, the Ceter gaied atioal recogitio i 1994 beig amed the "Outstadig Educatio Program" i the atio by the Natioal Coucil of Juveile ad Family Court Judges. New edeavors for 1996 iclude the developmet of a database for the Pesylvaia State Police to keep figerprits ad photographs of juveiles alleged to have committed a misdemeaor or feloy as allowed by Act 6 of Special Sessio No. 1 of Accordig to the Ceter s Executive Director, future ambitios are to build upo the high quality of work delivered i all Ceter iitiatives ad to cotiue to respod to the chagig eeds of Pesylvaia s juveile justice ad child welfare systems. Natioal Ceter for Juveile Justice 101 South Secod Street Suite 609 Harrisburg, PA BULK RATE U.S. Postage P A I D Permit No. 901 Harrisburg, Pa. ATTENTION: RECIPIENT If label is icorrect, please make correctios ad retur label to NCJJ. 6

Workforce, Income and Food Security. Working to improve the financial and social well-being of America s children, families and workers.

Workforce, Income and Food Security. Working to improve the financial and social well-being of America s children, families and workers. Workforce, Icome ad Food Security Workig to improve the fiacial ad social well-beig of America s childre, families ad workers. CONTENT KNOWLEDGE Family Support ad Child/Youth Developmet Workforce Developmet