Rapides Parish - Structured Decision Making Tools for Better Alternatives
Jan 22, 2010, Louisiana Models for Change
Judge Patricia Koch and other judges of the 9th Judicial District Court are active partners in communitywide reform made possible with the financial support of the MacArthur Foundation's Models for Change grants.
One of the key goal of Models for Change is to give judges more alternatives to “locking up” youth in secure-care – alternatives that meet the needs of individual youth more effectively and appropriately while ensuring public safety.
As one of seven court-based MacArthur grant sites, Rapides Parish chose to focus on the decision-making tools that serve as resources for judges, district attorneys, public defenders, and law enforcement.
Two of these structured decision-making tools developed in Rapides Parish are:
1) screening and determining placement of youth at the time of initial arrest and
2) a risk-assessment instrument used for the development of a treatment plan for Louisiana’s juvenile offenders.
Through the use of the detention-screening instrument, Rapides has been able to reserve the use of the limited detention beds for the most violent offenders.
Through the use of the risk assessment instrument following adjudication, a youth’s risk for continued involvement in delinquent behavior is assessed and recommendations for treatment are made for the most appropriate method of intervention.
With the effective use of both tools, the 9th Judicial District Court and Rapides community partners have redirected the demand for secure care beds to community-based services.
- Issues
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Community-based alternatives
, Evidence-based practices
, Juvenile indigent defense
- States
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Louisiana
- Action networks
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Mental Health / Juvenile Justice Action Network