About Models for Change

Developing Models

The goal of the Models for Change effort is not just to bring about particular juvenile justice reforms in particular states, but to create models of successful system-wide change that can be emulated across the country.

States participating in Models for Change were chosen not only on the basis of their readiness to move forward, but also on the likelihood that the rest of the country will take note of their direction and follow their lead. Their diversity–in terms of regions, resources, histories, cultures, demographics, and juvenile justice structures and approaches–means that the lessons learned by Models for Change can have potential application anywhere. If Models for Change succeeds in this range of states, it will have demonstrated both that barriers to system change can be overcome, and that there are multiple pathways or models of change.

Wherever Models for Change works, it focuses on “leverage points” for system reform–policy and practice areas that are worth working on for their own sakes, but that have the potential to impact other parts of the system as well. Again, the goal is not isolated improvements, but system-wide transformations.

In order to ensure that the field at large benefits as much as possible from the Models for Change experiment, reform planning and implementation in participating states will be carefully studied and documented, and the outcomes of reforms will be assessed. By the time the initiative is through, the “news” about Models for Change–the knowledge it generates, the innovations it fosters, and the possibilities it opens up–will be spread to a national audience through a range of vehicles and strategies, including reports and issue briefs, sponsored site visits, media outreach, and this website.

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