JDAI Site Updates
Risk Instrument Approaching Reality in New Jersey
With the support of the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts and the approval of the State Supreme Court, the use of a single, statewide risk assessment instrument is on its way to becoming a reality in New Jersey.
Following a successful pilot in four of the New Jersey JDAI sites, a statewide standardized risk assessment instrument will be tested in five additional sites using a similar approach. This intentional and careful implementation of a statewide tool follows two years of development, study and planning.
New Jersey’s judiciary is comprised of 15 vicinages that operate under a statewide umbrella, and all local detention decisions are made by officers of this statewide court system.
"We decided to develop a single statewide tool to promote fairness, consistency and equity," said Dr. Jennifer LeBaron, manager of research and evaluation at the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission and New Jersey's JDAI state coordinator.
Two reports authored by Dr. LeBaron summarize New Jersey’s development, testing and pilot process and outline the results. Both reports were submitted to the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts for approval and are available on the JDAI Help Desk.
An initial study of the instrument’s impact on current decision-making found that fewer youth would be detained if the instrument was implemented. The impact study identified a group of youth released by judges at the initial hearing as the most likely to be diverted from detention, according to LeBaron’s report, “The Development of a Detention Screening Tool and Its Potential Impact on Current Practice and Site-Readiness Planning."
New Jersey’s four original JDAI sites – Atlantic, Monmouth, Camden and Essex counties – piloted and evaluated the instrument. LeBaron documented the findings in a report to the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Court, “The Pilot of New Jersey’s Detention Risk Screening Tool.”
Each site detained fewer youth at intake and overall detention admissions decreased. Preliminary results found that only 8 percent of released youth were charged with a new offense and only 7 percent did not appear in court for their hearings.
New Jersey is preparing to roll-out the risk screening tool in five additional sites. The state is currently developing local site plans that provide for training, quality assurance, and data collection; on-call staffing; and detailed procedures for the use of alternatives to detention.
For more information contact Pat Walker, New Jersey JDAI state coordinator, at pat.walker@njjjc.org.
To read reports and related PowerPoint
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