About Models for Change

Background of Models for Change

Models for Change is part of a 15-year, $100 million investment in improving juvenile justice in America.

The MacArthur Foundation’s grants in this area, which began in 1996, focused originally on creating a solid evidence base for better juvenile justice policy and practice. The findings of the MacArthur Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice have considerably advanced our understanding of the differences between adults and adolescents. Following years of harsh legislation that threatened to undermine or even sweep away the foundations of juvenile justice in this country–laws restricting juvenile court judges’ traditional discretion to deal with individuals on the basis of their needs, curtailing their jurisdiction, doing away with confidentiality protections, introducing frankly punitive new sentencing approaches, and requiring the transfer of more and more youth to the adult criminal system–the MacArthur Research Network’s developmental findings have helped to remind the public of why we need a separate system of justice for young people. It has never been more clear that young people are different from adults–in terms of their comprehension, foresight, impulse control, susceptibility to peer pressure, and potential for change–and that they both need and deserve very different treatment.

In line with these findings, Models for Change is an effort to regenerate juvenile justice in America. The initiative seeks both to set a broad, unifying agenda for reform within targeted states–to help accelerate progress toward more rational, fair, effective, and developmentally appropriate policies and practices–and to ensure that reform spreads from state to state.

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