New Jersey Designated Model State JDAI Program
The Annie E. Casey Foundation named New Jersey as the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative’s first-ever Model State Program. The decision to designate New Jersey a state model site firmly establishes statewide expansion as the Foundation’s strategic priority for the initiative over the next several years.
While JDAI has taken hold and blossomed in more than 100 sites in 25 states, the Foundation is encouraging sites to begin planning for expansion. Newly announced modest incentive grant programs will soon be available to support site visits to New Jersey as a peer-to-peer learning laboratory for statewide planning and expansion efforts. JDAI sites will be receiving information on the grants' purpose and application process.
Detention Reduced by 40 Percent
Remarkable results sustained over a number of years is the leading indicator of New Jersey’s success. In the five original JDAI sites, annual admissions to detention dropped by 41 percent and average daily population declined by 44 percent. As a result, 2,616 fewer youth were detained in 2008 then in 2003.
Five additional New Jersey sites came online in 2006, and by 2008 those sites had reduced their annual admissions by an average of 25 percent and also experienced an average decline in their average daily population of 23 percent. (See charts below)
However, the designation of New Jersey as a model program was not merely due to its impressive outcomes. New Jersey had an intentional, thoughtful and visionary plan that made the most of its strengths and sought to take JDAI statewide.
Thoughtful Planning Process
From the outset, New Jersey had a plan to go statewide. The leadership of the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC), the state’s juvenile justice authority, was intentional in its efforts to bring JDAI to New Jersey and initiated the process on a manageable scale in five representative jurisdictions.
New Jersey’s vision included a rational expansion effort to be phased in gradually. Over a period of six years, the state went from five JDAI sites to 10 and then 13 county sites. JDAI officials hope to add two additional sites this year, and to be in all New Jersey counties with detention centers by the end of next year.
From the start the stated goal was to build the capacity necessary to make JDAI detention policies, practices and programs normal operating procedures in New Jersey.
Stategic State and Local Relationships
A key ingredient to the state’s success was its ability to unify oversight and administration with the day-to-day practices in local detention operations. New Jersey emphasized the shared common values at both the state and county levels and found a way to marry top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Although many state organizations support JDAI, the Juvenile Justice Commission acts as the flagship in promulgating statewide juvenile detention reform.
The Juvenile Justice Commission is responsible for the state's committed youth, provides oversight and support for county-operated detention programs and operates as the federal liaison. Appointed as the convener of reform, the Juvenile Justice Commission established a statewide steering committee, named a statewide JDAI coordinator and took guidance from a local expert appointed by the Casey Foundation as the technical assistance advisor.
The statewide steering committee plays an important role in guiding the reform initiative. Membership is comprised of the major state partners (probation, judiciary, police, human services, education, etc.) and a representative from each local JDAI committee. The state committee articulates and advocates for the concerns of county-based practitioners at the state level, and when necessary it serves as a calming influence, reassuring local personnel on the validity of impending changes in programs and policies. The unique concerns, challenges and problems of local sites are regularly addressed by state conveners.
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| Veleria N. Lawson, executive director of the Juvenile Justice Commision |
"The leadership and advocacy of our statewide partners has been critical to the success of the JDAI in New Jersey." said Veleria N. Lawson, executive director of the Juvenile Justice Commission. "It is only through their leadership that the JDAI policies and practices have become our normal way of doing business."
The many JJC employees dedicated to JDAI also serve a dual role. The JDAI coordinator, the research and evaluation manager, and a team of detention specialists provide local guidance, support and oversight, and act as liaison between the state and local committees.
Reform Effort is Data Driven
To build capacity and support detention reform on the ground, the state hired or contracted with detention specialists to research and identify the critical points in the local process contributing to overuse or misuse of detention. Trained and guided by the JJC research and evaluation manager and mentored by the JDAI coordinator and other senior staff, detention specialists became the eyes and ears on the ground, local data experts and persistent advocates for JDAI core strategies.
This staffing infrastructure played a critical role in the success of statewide start-up and helped negotiate the complexity of early reform. The detention specialists collected, analyzed and disseminated detention data to local and state officials. Their work helped highlight systemic problems in case processing and inappropriate detentions. Their efforts stimulated the early successful reform strategies adopted by local officials.
As early sites gained momentum, and as local champions stepped up and adopted leadership roles, the specialists could reallocate a substantial portion of their time and effort to launching new JDAI sites. Although the specialists technically work for the state, they are fierce champions of local JDAI sites.
Learning from Each Other
Buoyed by early success in Essex, Monmouth and Camden counties, New Jersey officials conducted regular training activities and sponsored annual conferences to galvanize and mobilize support. They worked to ensure the support of the Governor’s office, the judiciary, the Attorney General and state legislators. They documented and shared with each other what was working in each site. There was a drumbeat of positive information that helped to build momentum and encourage replication.
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| Hon. Glenn A. Grant, acting administrative director of the courts |
"The collaboration of the judiciary and the JJC, along with so many other agencies involved with both the defense and prosecution of juveniles, has delivered dramatic results," said Judge Glenn A. Grant, acting administrative director of the courts. "By reducing incarceration we improve the chance that juveniles can be rehabilitated and grow up to be responsible adult citizens."
New Jersey officials made strategic use of Casey Foundation resources. Technical support was valuable in empowering administrators to evolve into leaders of the reform effort. Practitioners, policymakers and politicians were encouraged to attend JDAI Model Sites visits and JDAI’s Annual Inter-Site Conference.
Statewide Risk Assessment
New Jersey’s Administrative Office of the Courts strengthened the expansion efforts by agreeing to the concept of implementing a statewide risk-assessment instrument for use by intake officers. A subcommittee of the state steering committee, with representation from all major system stakeholders, was charged with developing and testing a draft instrument. The process exposed juvenile justice professionals across the state to JDAI practices. In the end, the state’s Supreme Court approved the piloting of the risk screening tool in the original five JDAI sites, and agreed with the goal of statewide expansion of the tool’s use. A comprehensive training program and continuous quality assurance procedures are used to maintain cross-site consistency.
Substantial Political Support
High-ranking officials embraced early on the idea of making JDAI state detention policy. It became common to see the Supreme Court chief justice, the Attorney General, state legislators or the Governor’s office praising JDAI at New Jersey’s annual conferences. Local elected officials also voiced support for JDAI in county board meetings and in local newspapers. Political support of this nature not only helped pave the way for expansion but also protected and sustained existing gains on the ground.
The state legislature appropriated $8 million over the past two years that allowed New Jersey to incorporate and take its reform activities to scale.
Building on success in the area of juvenile detention, New Jersey expanded the purpose and scope of the JDAI state steering committee to include broader system reform. The elevated committee was renamed the New Jersey Council on Juvenile Justice System Improvement, with membership dually appointed by the New Jersey administrative director of the courts and the executive director of the Juvenile Justice Commission. Governor Corzine included JDAI as part of the prevention component of his anti-crime initiative, Safe Streets and Neighborhoods.
As a learning laboratory, New Jersey is a statewide platform that will provide visiting JDAI sites with examples of how they could approach expansion in their own states and identify unique factors in their own experience that lend themselves to expansion.
For examples of ways to document innovations and strategies, and of key elements in building a sustainable infrastructure that will support detention reform throughout a state, see the descriptions of New Jersey model activities on the JDAI Help Desk.
For more information on the New Jersey State Model Program, contact Jennifer LeBaron, JDAI state coordinator, at jennifer.lebaron@njjjc.org.
Additional information on the incentive grants is available from Gail D. Mumford, senior associate at the Casey Foundation, at gmumford@aecf.org.
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