Detention Reform
You are in the Detention Reform section of the Casey Foundation Knowledge Center, which offers resources that are either published or funded by the Casey Foundation.
See also Our Work: Juvenile Justice, an overview of Casey's investment in this issue.
See all resources from Casey's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI).
Featured Publications
Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative: A Successful Approach to Comprehensive Reform
This 12-page brochure, complete with full-page black-and-white photographs, highlights the goals and the accomplishments of the Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative since its launch in 1992.
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State-Level Detention Reform: A Practice Guide for State Advisory Groups
2008
This is a “how-to” leadership guide designed for a highly-specialized and specific audience: State juvenile justice advisory group members (or “SAG” members) who advise and guide the implementation of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) in the states, territories and District of Columbia. This guide highlights examples of leadership and the work of SAG members in key states that have been front-runners in advancing the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) via SAG leadership.
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14. Pathways to Juvenile Detention Reform: Beyond Detention -- System Transformation Through Juvenile Detention Reform
2007
This report is book #14 in the Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) Pathways series on juvenile detention reform. It documents the ways in which detention reforms in general – and JDAI’s comprehensive reform model in particular -- stimulate and support a broad array of other juvenile justice system improvements.
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Advocasey: Juvenile Justice at a Crossroads
2003
This news brief examines the reliance on large correctional facilities and the substandard legal representation provided for accused teens. Additionally, the brief highlights four key ways to juvenile justice reform and provides an update on the progress of the Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI).
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(Video) These Are Our Kids: Transforming Juvenile Detention in Three American Cities
2000
This video by Casey's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative documents the power and effectiveness of juvenile detention reforms in Cook County (Chicago), Illinois, Multnomah County (Portland), Oregon, and Santa Cruz County, California.
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Casey Connects Newsletter, 11, Summer 2002
2002
This issue focuses on making work count for low-income families, racial disparities in juvenile detention, and the role of cultural competency in connecting workers to jobs.
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Juvenile Jailhouse Rocked
2000
A report on the Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, this story documents the successful efforts of three urban counties -- Cook, Multnomah, and Sacramento -- to reduce the unnecessary and inappropriate use of secure juvenile detention without compromising public safety.
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Kids Count Essay 2008 Summary
2008
This summary version of the 2008 KIDS COUNT essay, A Road Map for Juvenile Justice, presents the six pervasive challenges raised in the essay that face our nation’s juvenile justice systems today. It highlights key facts and data, and offers promising solutions for approaches that have been proven to improve outcomes for youth, families, taxpayers, and communities.
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Juvenile Detention Reform: Guide for County Officials
2007
Using Casey's Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative's (JDAI) model sites as examples, a new educational tool published by the National Association of Counties provides compelling arguments why county officials should undertake detention reform. The 12-page guide introduces readers to the concepts of detention reform, provides data analyses and cost comparisons, and illustrates outcomes achieved in JDAI sites across the nation.
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The Dangers of Detention: The Impact of Incarcerating Youth in Detention and Other Secure Facilities
2007
This policy brief reviews the existing literature on the efficacy of detention and looks at the consequences of detention on young people, their families, and communities.
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Casey Connects Newsletter, Issue 23, Winter 2006
2006
This issue highlights the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Reform Initiative (JDAI) and how detention systems are failing to meet the needs of girls.
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No Turning Back: Promising Approaches to Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities Affecting Youth of Color in the Justice System
2005
This report by the Building Blocks for Youth Initiative features two of Casey's Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative sites and their efforts at targeting and reducing racial disparities in the juvenile justice system. The publication demonstrates that by reducing detention, jurisdictions were also able to reduce disproportionate minority confinement.
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