Apply Now: Guidance for Youth Probation Departments That Want to Introduce Incentives

Does your pro­ba­tion depart­ment want to begin using incen­tives to encour­age pos­i­tive behav­ior change among youth on probation? 

The Juve­nile Jus­tice Research and Reform Lab at Drex­el Uni­ver­si­ty is offer­ing both expert tech­ni­cal assis­tance and peer-to-peer sup­port to help coun­ty-lev­el youth pro­ba­tion depart­ments begin uti­liz­ing incen­tives. The Lab will select up to 10 depart­ments to sup­port in 2026. The catch? Expres­sions of inter­est are due Feb. 13, 2026. 

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The Pow­er of Incen­tives in Juve­nile Probation 

Young peo­ple find incen­tives for pos­i­tive behav­ior more moti­vat­ing than pun­ish­ments and sanc­tions for neg­a­tive behav­ior, stud­ies sug­gest. These incen­tives can take many forms, includ­ing paid jobs and intern­ships, recre­ation­al activ­i­ties, loos­ened behav­ior restric­tions and reduced pro­ba­tion dura­tions. Such options give pro­ba­tion offi­cers a mean­ing­ful tool for encour­ag­ing young peo­ple to pur­sue their goals and stay focused on success. 

The 2026 Opportunity

Drex­el is look­ing to engage depart­ments that are in ear­ly stages of incor­po­rat­ing incen­tives into their broad­er pro­ba­tion trans­for­ma­tion efforts.

Select­ed depart­ments will join a nation­al learn­ing net­work, offered in part­ner­ship with the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, called the 2026 Com­mu­ni­ty of Prac­tice. Par­tic­i­pat­ing in this net­work is free and includes the fol­low­ing benefits:

• Con­nec­tions to peers across the coun­try who are engaged in sim­i­lar work.
• Access to a suite of tem­plates, guid­ance doc­u­ments and plan­ning tools to help depart­ments design, imple­ment and eval­u­ate the use of incen­tives in youth probation.
• Direct lines to nation­al experts, includ­ing indi­vid­u­al­ized tech­ni­cal assis­tance, con­sul­ta­tions and week­ly office hours.

Par­tic­i­pants in the 2026 Com­mu­ni­ty of Prac­tice will be able to devel­op an incen­tives sys­tem that is tai­lored around their jurisdiction’s unique chal­lenges, needs and pri­or­i­ties, says Nao­mi E. Gold­stein, who directs the Juve­nile Jus­tice Research and Reform Lab.

If select­ed to join the Com­mu­ni­ty of Prac­tice, depart­ments can expect to:

• Par­tic­i­pate in month­ly vir­tu­al meet­ings with oth­er juris­dic­tions. These hour­long meet­ings, which will run for 12 months, will begin in March 2026.
• Share ideas, insights and ques­tions to help inform the devel­op­ment of an incen­tives prac­tice toolkit.

A Record of Bring­ing Pro­ba­tion Agen­cies Together

Drex­el launched their first Com­mu­ni­ty of Prac­tice in late 2024. Par­tic­i­pants liked the give and take among peers from oth­er coun­ties. ​“We were able to give tips and also receive guid­ance from pro­fes­sion­als doing the same work,” said Dominique Gam­brell, deputy chief of Inter­ven­tion and Spe­cial­ized Ser­vices, Cuya­hoga Coun­ty, Ohio, Juve­nile Court. “[We were] sup­port­ive of each oth­er and often shared some of the same strug­gles. It was nice to know we are not alone.”

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