Corrections_Today_September_October_2019_Vol.81_No.5

nEWS & vIEWS

necessary to be successful in less restrictive settings. Assessments have provided practitioners with a clearer understanding of appropriate interventions and placements when necessary. In order to place less restrictively or to divert youth suc- cessfully, all of their strengths, needs and challenges must be considered, and only those youth who cannot be safely and effectively served in community-based programs should be considered for placement in resi- dential care. This resulting population of youth in secure confinement presents chal- lenges to juvenile justice systems of care due to their high needs and rela- tively low resources and skills. Many youths who are ultimately placed at these higher levels of care struggle with multiple problems including mental health issues, substance use and abuse issues and personal histo- ries of trauma. 8 Evidence-based and evidence- supported models have been developed and implemented to ensure that programs and services for justice-involved youth are effective, and that stated goals for youth are consistently obtained in an effort to address the needs of placed youth. 9 Goals for youth in these programs often include maintaining com- munity placement goals (low/no recidivism), achieving educational goals for both credits and credentials, gaining job skills and certifications and achieving employment goals. Programs use various approaches to youth programming including cognitive-behavioral strategies, skills-building programs, family engagement programs and mentor programs, among others. Programs

are evaluated and identified as evi- dence-based or evidence-supported based on the outcome data produced by the programs and the youth dur- ing and after care. As a result, the collection and analysis of data can drive decision making toward the most effective practices which con- sistently deliver positive results for youth in care. States have used a variety of strategies to bring about posi- tive outcomes for justice-involved youth. These strategies include front-end diversion to community- based programs as well as enhanced programming for youth who require higher levels of care. Many have also benefitted from legislative initiatives to enhance and restructure juvenile justice service delivery systems as well as fund programs which serve youth as an alternative to placement or incarceration. Recently, with an additional $1 million appropriation by the Alabama Legislature, the Alabama Department of Youth Services

increased the number of rural counties having access to a commu- nity-based diversion program, adding 13 additional counties in 2018. These programs have helped Alabama reduce commitments to state custody since 2010. Utah implemented broad reforms via juvenile justice legislation in March of 2017, with the goal of treating low-level youth offenders differently by providing more early intervention services upfront to keep them from penetrating deep into the system. Since then, Juvenile Justice Services (JJS) has implemented trauma-informed care in all fa- cilities, to include early intervention multi-use facilities, detention and long-term secure care. This includes creating visiting areas that are more home-like and working with fami- lies in the community through the Strengthening Families Program and focused resources on school-based outreach. During the same period, Utah has seen fewer youth entering the system, continuing a long-term

istock/Motortion

16 — September/October 2019 Corrections Today