Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Perspective

and Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform:

The Federal Role

January 2015

National Academy of Sciences• Chartered by Congress in 1863• Purpose: To advise the government and the

nation on critical national issues through objective, scientific, and evidence-based research and analysis

• Designed to be independent, balanced, and objective

• Not an agency of the federal government.

• Ability to get the very best to serve pro bono, ensuring the breadth and balance of interdisciplinary committee composition

• Quality assurance and control procedures, including a strict peer review process

• Written reports (source of “formal advice”) based on evidence and rigorous analysis.

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SponsorsReport 1- Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Perspective

•The Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Report 2- Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role

•The Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

•The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

•The Annie E. Casey Foundation

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Statement of TaskReport 1- Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Perspective

•To assess the implications of advances in behavioral and neuroscience research for the field of juvenile justice and the implications of such knowledge for juvenile justice reform.

Report 2- Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role

•An ad hoc committee will be convened to identify, assess and prioritize strategies and policies to effectively reform the juvenile justice system building on the recommendations from the 2013 report, Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach. The study will conclude with a report documenting the committee's findings and proposing recommendations for OJJDP and, where appropriate other federal agencies, to implement a reform plan using a developmental approach.

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Report 1- Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Perspective

• Recommendations

• Commitment to reform by State, Local, and Tribal Governments

• Strong Supporting Role for OJJDP

• Research Agenda on Adolescent Development, Delinquency Prevention and Juvenile Justice

• Data Improvement5

Emerging consensus regarding science of adolescent development and its implications for design and operation of juvenile justice system

The ScienceThe brain determines behavior but normative development is affected by the interplay between the brain and an adolescent’s environment:

•peers,

•schools and

•communities all affect the likelihood and seriousness of offending. 6

The Science• Adolescents differ from

adults and/or children in three important ways: • lack mature capacity for self-

regulation in emotionally charged contexts

• have a heightened sensitivity to proximal external influences such as peer pressure and immediate incentives

• show less ability to make judgments and decisions that require future orientation. 7

Executive Function DevelopmentWorking Memory Inhibitory Control Cognitive Flexibility

Adult: Can remember multiple tasks, rules and strategies that may vary by situation.

Adult: Consistent self control, situationally appropriate responses.

Adult: Able to revise actions and plans in response to changing circumstances.

5-16 Years: Develops ability to search varying locations, remember where something was found, then explore other locations.

10-18 Years: Continues to develop self-control, such as switching attention from central focus (riding a bike) to peripheral stimuli (signs vs. houses).

13-18 Years: Continued improvement in accuracy when switching focus and adapting to changing rules.

3 Years: Can hold in mind two rules at once (e.g., red goes here, blue goes there) and action on the basis of the rules.

4-5 Years: Reductions in perseveration (following a rule after the rule has changed), can delay eating a treat.

2-5 Years: Succeeds at shifting actions according to changing rules (taking off shoes at home, puts on boots for rain).

9 Months: Can execute simple means-to-ends tasks and two-step plans; also able to integrate looking in one place and acting.

8-10 Months: Begins to maintain focus despite distractions during brief delays.

9-11 Months: Develops ability to seek alternative methods to retrieve objects beyond directly reaching for things in view. 8

Source: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2011). Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function: Working Paper No.11. http://www.developing child.harvard.edu

Major Conclusions from the Research• Being held accountable for wrongdoing and accepting responsibility in a

process perceived as fair promotes healthy moral development and legal socialization.

• Conversely, being held accountable and punished in a process perceived as unfair can reinforce social disaffection and antisocial behavior

• Policies and programs that are predominantly punitive neither foster prosocial development nor reduce recidivism

• No convincing evidence that confinement of juvenile offenders beyond a minimum amount required to provide intense services reduces likelihood of subsequent offending

• Pattern of racial disparities is likely to contribute to perceptions of unfairness and impede efforts to engage minority youth 9

What is a Developmental Approach in Juvenile Justice?A developmental approach to juvenile justice recognizes that illegal acts committed by adolescents occur at a time of life when individuals are more likely to exercise poor judgment, take risks, and pursue thrills and excitement. A juvenile justice system centered on a developmental approach will respond to offending behavior by providing treatment and services that: 1.Have youth focus on repairing the social injury or damage, understand how the behavior has affected other people, and take responsibility for their action.

2.Are a diverse array of activities, supports, and opportunities for normal growth (emotional, physical, intellectual),

3.Are delivered in environments that are appropriate to the ages and stages of the youth involved, and are conducive to healthy development.

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Developmentally Informed Juvenile Justice SystemAll participants understand the developmental differences between adolescents and adults and use that knowledge to create and use alternatives to juvenile system involvement, to provide the right services at the right time in the right setting for each youth who is formally involved in the system, and to ensure that every youth becomes a successful, productive member of the community.

When seen through developmental lens, goals of juvenile justice are complementary.•Accountability•Preventing reoffending•Fairness 11

HallmarksThe Hallmarks demonstrate how the developmental approach can guide juvenile justice reform. The report outlines how these hallmarks of a developmental approach should be incorporated into policies and practices within OJJDP, as well as in actions taken by state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to achieve the goals of the juvenile justice system.•Accountability without Criminalization•Alternatives to Justice System Involvement•Individualized Response Based on Assessment of Needs and Risks•Confinement Only When Necessary for Public Safety•A Genuine Commitment to Fairness•Sensitivity to Disparate Treatment•Family Engagement

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Recommendation from Report 1: State policy reform

• Characteristics of an effective oversight board

• Strategies for seeking and gaining support for reform efforts

• Strategies for sustaining reform

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Recommendation from Report 2: Facilitating Change Within State/Local/Tribal Jurisdictions

Recommendation 4-1

•Support work of SAGs and other state leaders to be reform leaders

Recommendation 4-2

•Develop training and technical assistance to be both strategic and tactical

Recommendation 4-5

•Develop a multiyear demonstration project on developmental approach to system reform 14

Recommendation 4-4

•Establish new approach for reducing racial and ethnic disparities

Recommendation 4-3

•Ensure technical assistance recipients are undertaking reforms using a developmental approach

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Recommendation from Report 2: Facilitating Change Within State/Local/Tribal Jurisdictions

Federal Funding Sources

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Abstinence Education Program X X X X

Advanced Placement Program X

Affordable Care Act: Grants to School-based Health Center Capital Expenditures X X X X X X X X X X

After-School Centers for Exploration and New Discovery (ASCEND) X

Arts in Education X X X X

Federal Funding Sources: Domains and Categories

Stage of Involvement Health and Well-being

OJJDP Reauthorization

“When OJJDP is reauthorized, it should be directed, as recommended by the 2013 NRC Report, to base its programs and activities on the scientific knowledge regarding adolescent development and the effects of delinquency prevention programs and juvenile justice interventions; to link state plans and training of State Advisory Groups to the accumulating knowledge about adolescent development; to modify the definitions for “status offenses” and for an “adult inmate” so that all adolescents are treated appropriately; and to identify support for developmentally informed juvenile justice system improvement as one of the agency’s responsibilities.” 17

Summary for Federal Policy

“Assisting states, localities, and tribal jurisdictions to align their juvenile justice systems and delinquency prevention programs with current best practice and the results of research on adolescent development and implementing developmentally informed policies, program, and practices should be the agency’s top priority under the JJDPA. Any additional responsibilities and authority conferred on the agency should be amply funded so as not to erode the funds needed to carry out support for system improvement.” 18

Challenges

• Building a consensus/agenda for reform

• Implementing reform and measuring success

• Sustaining reform

• Reform as a journey19

Thank you!

For more information:

•claj@nas.edu

For copies of report:

•http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/CLAJ/Implementing_Juvenile_Justice_Reform/index.htm

Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Youth in Juvenile Justice:

•http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/CLAJ/DBASSE_088937

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