Embedding Detention Reform in State Statutes, Rules and Regulations

Summary

True to its title, this report aims to help jurisdictions embed the goals of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) into state law. How it does this—by pairing an expansive collection of policy excerpts with helpful tips and a tool for assessing existing strategies—allows sites to create a customized game plan for advancing the tenets of JDAI reform.

JDAI—a product of the Annie E. Casey Foundation—is a multi-year, multi-site effort to create a safer, fairer detention system while championing the use of more effective, efficient alternatives to secure confinement.

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Collaboration
• Collecting and Using Data
• Controlling the Front Gates
• Detention Alternatives
• Reducing Unnecessary Delay
• Special Detention Cases
• Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities
• Addressing Conditions of Confinement
• The Right to Effective Counsel
• Amending Purpose Clauses
• Financial Incentives
• Appendix A: Assessment Tool
• Acknowledgements
• Endnotes

Key Takeaway

Stakeholders can use this guide to create a customized action plan for updating policy according to their site’s unique needs.

This report is jam-packed with excerpts of real-world statutes and regulations aimed at advancing juvenile detention reform. These examples, which support the core strategies of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), serve as clear and convenient references for stakeholders interested in updating state-level policies.