Models for Change Publications (resource centers)

Dual Status Youth – Technical Assistance Workbook

12/13/2013 03:42 PM

Dec 1, 2013 | John A. Tuell, Jessica K. Heldman, and Janet K. Wiig | PUBLICATIONS

“Dual status youth” refers to juveniles who come into contact with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and occupy various statuses in terms of their relationship to the two systems. A growing body of research has consistently confirmed that, in comparison to juveniles without such cross-system involvement, dual status youth present a range of important challenges.

The Technical Assistance Workbook, developed by Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps, through the Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice (RFK National Resource Center), is a companion piece to the third edition of the Guidebook for Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare System Coordination and Integration: A Framework for Improved Outcomes (2013), and provides detailed guidance for state and local jurisdictions in their endeavor to improve the outcomes for dual status youth and families and to enhance system performance among the critical youth- and family-serving agency partners. This publication is the product of more than twelve years of experience in the field, and it incorporates a technical assistance framework originally developed in 2003. It is significantly informed by the October 2013 completion of a four-site demonstration project, supported in partnership by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Office for Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention.

The Technical Assistance Workbook presents a month-by-month outline of analytical tasks, expectations, products, and timelines that frame the 12-15 month structure of a dual status youth initiative. Numerous tools, resources, and examples developed by the RFKNationalResourceCenter and participating jurisdictions are provided. This publication, particularly when paired with technical assistance provided by the RFK National Resource Center, provides instructive, informed, and flexible guidance for jurisdictions of all sizes, regions, and variable populations across the country to enable success in improving outcomes for some our most challenged, troubled, and disadvantaged youth.

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Guidebook for Juvenile Justice & Child Welfare System Coordination and Integration: A Framework for Improved Outcomes, 3rd Edition

12/13/2013 03:30 PM

Dec 13, 2013 | Janet K. Wiig and John A. Tuell, with Jessica K. Heldman | PUBLICATIONS

Increasingly, practitioners and policymakers are recognizing the overlap of the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. This overlap is evidenced by maltreated children who become juvenile delinquents, delinquent children who have histories of maltreatment, and families that have intergenerational histories with both systems. It is also evidenced by some administrative and operational realities, in that agencies face duplication of services, competition for scarce program dollars, unmet service needs, and a dearth of prevention activity to help stem the tide of children coming into the two systems.

Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps, through the Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice (RFK National Resource Center) and the Models for Change Initiative, developed the third edition of this guidebook to help state and local jurisdictions determine how to achieve useful integration and cooperation between their child welfare and juvenile justice systems. This publication is informed by more than twelve years of experience in the field and guided by current research and best practice methods. The Guidebook uses a four phase framework to support state and local jurisdictions seeking to improve outcomes for dual status youth and their families. The Guidebook highlights numerous examples from jurisdictions across the country that have worked diligently to develop new practices, policies, procedures and protocols that achieve the goals of enhanced multi-system performance and improved youth and family outcomes. The expectation is that a state or local jurisdiction will use the Guidebook’s process to discover what is most useful in its own area and address its particular contextual factors.

The Guidebook is joined with a new supporting publication, Dual Status Youth - Technical Assistance Workbook (2013), designed to be used in conjunction with the Guidebook to advance the development of policy and practice for dual status youth.

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