Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court Leads Way With Children and Youth Planning Board
Jan 22, 2010, Louisiana Models for Change
In October 2006, after being selected as one of the first MacArthur Foundation Louisiana grant sites, the Jefferson Parish Children and Youth Planning Board formed working committees designed to meet all three goals of the national Models for Change initiative: provide alternatives to formal processing, increase the use of evidence-based practices and services, and reduce disproportionate minority contact. Jefferson Juvenile Court Judges Andrea Janzen, Nancy Konrad and Ann Keller have provided leadership throughout this process – in partnership with the Jefferson Parish Department of Juvenile Services and other local stakeholders.
Here is a progress report on the local visions and work to date:
1) Alternatives to Formal Processing
Local Vision: Expand and improve access to appropriate alternatives across all critical decision points pre-petition, pre-adjudication and dispositional.
• The district attorney has developed a diversion program for youth who have been arrested for non-violent offenses at school.
• After data review confirmed that 33% of all arrests were generated by school referrals, Planning Board agencies developed one new arrest alternative and laid the groundwork for others.
2) Evidence-Based Practices
Local Vision: To ensure evidence-based practices guide services, including those for mental health, for at-risk youth and families, broaden the pool of trained providers, and continuously evaluate for effectiveness.
• Initial surveys show access to Evidence-Based Therapeutic Services has increased from 13% to 33%.
• Post-adjudication/predisposition investigations will include the recently-adopted SAVRY risk assessment instrument by probation officers.
• RFPs for professional service contract providers will specify need for evidence-based and/or promising approaches that are culturally and gender competent.
3) Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC)
Local Vision: Ensure minority youth receive fair treatment at each point of contact within the juvenile justice system and that all interactions are handled in an unbiased manner.
• Data collection has identified key decision points that contribute to DMC.
• Updated data collection processes to collect racial and ethnic data according to federal guidelines.
• Analyses have shown reduction in Jefferson Parish DMC objective through use of an objective Detention Assessment Instrument.
- Issues
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Community-based alternatives
, Evidence-based practices
, Juvenile indigent defense
, Mental health
, Racial-ethnic fairness/DMC
- States
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Louisiana
- Action networks
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DMC Action Network
, Mental Health / Juvenile Justice Action Network