Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative 2011 Annual Results Report

This summary of the 2011 JDAI annual results depicts an initiative that has accomplished a great deal, and still has much left to accomplish. It documents the progress that JDAI sites have made in reducing their reliance on secure detention and advancing detention reform; and it also shows that sites continue to grapple with challenges in several areas of performance, most notably the stubborn persistence of racial and ethnic disparities in the use of detention

Research has shown that when a youth is detained in the period before the disposition of his or her case, even when controlling for other factors, the youth is much more likely to be ordered into an out-of-home placement.. As documented in AECF’s publication, No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration, these placements, which typically involve committing the youth to the custody of a state agency, tend to be extremely costly, unsafe, developmentally inappropriate (especially for youth who have not participated in any serious delinquent behavior), damaging to family and community ties, and ineffective in reducing recidivism or improving prospects for a successful transition to adulthood.