Goals for Change

Safety

A model system protects the community from dangerous juveniles and protects juveniles from themselves and others. In the short term, it discharges its safety-related responsibilities by continuously assessing the risks that juveniles under its supervision pose to the public and to themselves, and taking steps to manage those risks effectively. But in the long term, it can only protect by doing the rest of its job well—identifying and responding to youth needs, building on youth potential, fostering accountability, etc.

A juvenile justice system that takes its safety responsibilities seriously will employ certain characteristic practices in community and institutional settings:

Community safety

• Assessment of risks presented by juveniles to determine appropriate level of supervision
• Management of short-term risks to safety through appropriate level of supervision and structure
• Flexible continuum of community supervision options (intensive supervision, electronic monitoring, day treatment, after-school/evening reporting, curfew, etc.) designed to structure juveniles’ time and sanction misbehavior

Institutional safety

• Suicide screening at facility intake
• Gated screening protocols
• Policies and procedures that maximize the health, safety, and well-being of juveniles in confinement
• Guaranteed community and family access to juveniles in confinement
• Safety-related staff training

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