Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative Case Study

Essay Week 5

The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative isn’t about letting juvenile offenders off the hook with just a slap on the wrist, it is about a more proactive approach that involves the community as whole. JDAI is about reducing the number of juveniles that are being detained and using that information to help make the right decisions for our youth that are considered at risk. The goals of JDAI are to reduce the number of juveniles that are in detention facilities, and to help reform the juvenile justice system. JDAI jurisdictions have achieved a cumulative reduction of 43 percent in average daily population (Casey, 2015) JDAI is achieving these numbers by not detaining juveniles for status offenses, such as runaway and curfew violation, and by placing them in alternative programming. By using other programs, JDAI is helping these offenders to figure out and

JDAI involves families as whole when juveniles are going through the court process, and they also include them in any future plans for the juvenile. JDAI has even used parents who have had kids that were involved in the court system to work as mentors for other people going through the same process (Casey, 2015). In the program that I am involved with, we not only provide counseling for the juveniles, but for the whole family as well. One of JDAI’s methods is to get as many people involved in making the juvenile justice system better suited to help these young offenders. JDAI is not about letting these juveniles offender off the hook with no consequences. JDAI is offering a more proactive approach to help juvenile offenders from being incarcerated for petty crimes, and at the same time helping to reduce the amount of juveniles that reoffend later in life. JDAI is using a proactive approach by involving the community, the courts and the families of these young offenders to help make better solutions for at risk