Law Enforcement Has a Powerful Role to Play in Advancing JDAI

A new practice guide and executive summary highlight the importance of training law enforcement commanders and patrol officers on the developmental differences between youth and adults. This knowledge — coupled with a commitment to treating youth in age-appropriate ways — can make a powerful and positive difference in young people’s lives. 

April 17, 2017

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Forging Partnerships With Law Enforcement

Executive Summary

This resource-packed playbook shares examples and advice aimed at helping Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) sites forge effective partnerships with law enforcement agencies on a number of fronts — from detention screenings to trainings on adolescent development.

April 17, 2017

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

A Guide to Juvenile Detention Reform #11

This guide highlights a wide range of best practices – everything from big picture improvements to frontline fixes – that juvenile justice facilities can implement to advance the safety and well-being of a particularly vulnerable population: Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)  youth.                                                                                                                                             It is the eleventh installment in a series devoted to the Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI). A multi-year, multi-site project, JDAI aims to reduce reliance on secure confinement while championing more efficient and effective detention alternatives.    

September 28, 2015

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JDAI in New Jersey

A Statewide Replication Success Story and Lessons for Taking JDAI Statewide

This report documents New Jersey’s success in replicating the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative model and highlights the importance of state leadership to progress. 

June 4, 2014

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Embedding Detention Reform in State Statutes, Rules and Regulations

A Guide to Juvenile Detention Reform

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.

June 3, 2014

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Noncitizen Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

A guide to juvenile detention reform

This report—the seventh in a series focused on juvenile detention reform—boldly goes where few reports have gone before: straight to the intersection of immigration and the American juvenile justice system. Readers will learn how to help ensure the safe and fair treatment of noncitizen youth in detention by adopting policies and procedures that are consistent with the goals of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI).  Launched in 1992, Annie E. Casey Foundation’s JDAI is a multi-year, multi-site effort to reduce reliance on secure detention while creating a more efficient and equitable juvenile justice system.

June 2, 2014

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