Juvenile Justice News
Missouri Juvenile Justice System Honored by Harvard University & Casey Foundation
Missouri’s Division of Youth Services won the 2008 Annie E. Casey Innovations Award in Children and Family System Reform, awarded by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School.
The Division of Youth Services of Missouri’s Department of Social Services serves youth offenders in small, dormitory settings and focuses on individualized and group treatment approaches. As one of the six government programs honored, the Division of Youth Services will receive $100,000 toward replication and dissemination around the country.
Recognized as “the guiding light for reform in juvenile justice” by the American Youth Policy Forum, the Missouri Division of Youth Services (DYS) forwards a promising new philosophy in treatment of youth offenders at its 42 locations across the state. Instead of the predominant punitive practices, DYS takes a therapeutic approach, viewing youth as a direct product of their experiences and capable of turning their lives around through a step by step change process.
DYS youth participate in daily group meetings with 10 to 12 of their peers to talk through challenges and serve as positive role models for each other. Each young person receives individualized educational assistance and participates in a host of volunteer and community engagement activities.
For many DYS youth, such positive experiences carry enormous weight; often these are some of the very first accomplishments for which they can feel proud. In addition to youth served at DYS treatment centers, many are diverted from the juvenile justice system all together through community-based programs supported by the Division, while other low-risk youth receive day treatment and family support while living at home.
Through ongoing group therapy, dedicated staff, relationships with the court system, and strong community support in the form of liaison councils and neighborhood advisory boards, the program cites measurable results in halting the cycle of juvenile crime.
Not only does the program note significant reductions in violence while youth are enrolled in DYS, over 90 percent of youth avoid further incarceration for three years or more after graduating from the program. According to studies of other states that count recidivism in a similar way, Missouri’s nine percent rate is well below states such as Florida, Maryland, and Louisiana with new juvenile re-offense rates of 29 percent, 30 percent, and 45 percent respectively.
Moreover, the program model enforces the importance of academic achievement and reports all time high graduation and GED rates: 90 percent of youth earn high school credits, 48 percent return to public schools, and 70 percent progress more rapidly than same-age peers in core subjects.
“Missouri’s Division of Youth Services is leading the nation in developing more effective and humane responses to juvenile delinquency,” said Douglas W. Nelson, president and CEO of the Casey Foundation. “We are very pleased that DYS has been chosen as this year’s Annie E. Casey Innovations Award in Children and Family System Reform winner. The ‘Missouri Model’ demonstrates that improved treatment, education, and support is cost-effective, reduces recidivism rates, and most importantly, provides troubled youth with the opportunity to turn their lives around and become contributing members of their communities.”
< JDAI Newsletter
Next Juvenile Justice News >