Nicole Almestica
Community Corrections (Instructor: Kathleen A-Mickel)
What Works (Position Paper)
Wilmington University
Abstract The juvenile programs that are discussed are Outward Bound, Phoenix Youth and Family Services (Southeast Arkansas), and Project New Pride. All three programs push towards improving the lives of juveniles who are troubled. The programs offer a variety of services and programs that will improve the mentality, education, and lives of the juveniles. All three programs focus on juveniles and the issues specific to the juvenile.
The three Juvenile Youth Programs that I have chosen to discuss are Outward Bound Program, Phoenix Youth and Family Services (SouthEast Arkansas), and Project
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The last juvenile program that I will discuss is Project New Pride. Project New Pride deals with juveniles who are ages 14-17, who have serious misdemeanors and/or felonies and have more than 2 priors. The program gives juveniles who have a host of issues in their lives, a sense of pride and ample opportunities to feel that they are worth the opportunity. Project New Pride offers juvenile offender 's the blend of many programs, such as alternative schooling, counseling, job placement, recreation, correction of learning disabilities, cultural activities, and vocational training (Project New Pride). The approach of Project New Pride is one of confronting and correcting the youths needs all at once. Since 1974, Project New Pride has been deemed a ' 'model program ' ' and by 1979 The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration 's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention granted funds to the program for it 's expansion in 10 other states. Project New Pride wants to work with the juveniles so that they can reenter the community with new skills to stay in school, get a job, or do both. Both skills help juveniles become self sufficient …show more content…
The program helps in cost effectiveness because it is cheaper than incarcerating the youth. According to Project New Pride, in New Jersey and Colorado it costs $28,000 per year to incarcerate a juvenile rather than $4,500 in Camden to enter them in Project New Pride 's program. Pride involves 6 months of intensive involvement in the program and its services and 6 month of follow-up during re-entry phase in the community. I think all programs are great programs for troubled juveniles and juveniles who are trying to rehabilitate themselves and their lives. The program that has more evidence based information for me is Project New Pride. Project New Pride really seems to have established its progress and efforts to improve the lives of the juveniles who are involved in their program. Cost wise, I like that the cost of the program is less than half of the amount of the incarceration cost. This can be a great help to funding and expenditures for the Criminal Justice system.
Reference Page
1. Project New Pride. (n.d.). Retrieved August 9, 2015.
2. Outdoor Education Programs | Outward Bound. (2015). Retrieved August 9, 2015.
3. Phoenix Youth | Family Services | PhoenixYouth.com. (n.d.).
The reason this is one of my choices is that I believe a range of community-based alternatives are very beneficial to the needs of most juveniles and is also less costly. By having different community-based alternatives many juveniles can be sentenced to home confinement, community service, counseling, etc. which will keep the juvenile offender out of a detention center or from being incarcerated. I truly believe that juveniles should be given different alternatives, especially if it keeps the juvenile from being
However, in overall the book of “Kids for Cash” is a riveting expose that brings out the need for reforms in the juvenile justice system that can be described as a system gone awry. The author incorporated seamlessly reform arguments and a plea for good practices by pointing out the things that did not work in Luzerne and suggesting what are known to work best with the kids. The book also examined adolescent’s psychological development and also provides critiques to policies of zero tolerance and the pipeline of school to prison. Ecenbarger (2012) believes that that evidence that support diversion and community-based services are much more effective in recidivism reduction compared to incarceration.
What is alarming about this situation, is that he had more than 60 charges to his name before he turned 18. The efficacy of this program needs to be addressed, however, its benefit to those who become part of it is worth the tradeoff. Kimewon, since early on has been detached from his family and society as a result of his behavior. Instead of being directly sent off to prison, Kimewon had the opportunity to reconnect with his indigenous roots and learn more about where he came from through this alternative justice program. The community council program also aided him in fighting addiction as well as help him attain his high school diploma.
There are indication that most criminals have a juvenile records in the US, indicating that crime manifests from a tender age. Therefore, to reverse the incidence of crime, it follows that the best strategy is to reduce the criminal orientation in the juvenile offenders as opposed to hardening them and preparing them for criminal careers. The case of the Crossroads Juvenile Center demonstrates the willingness of the juvenile justice systems to make these changes on the children. References Day, S. (2014). Runaway Man: A Journey Back to Hope.
Education will be provided to the juveniles to explain the repercussions of their actions and the results of another offence. Education will also be proved to the parents/guardians to improve the home situation and how to help the juvenile take on the restorative justice program in full force. Pre-program assessments must be completed for every juvenile to be place in this restorative justice program. Assessments will be taken often during and after the programs completion. The initial assessment will be a set in place to gather background information on the juveniles family/community situation, and continuous mental, physical and
This website discusses the main focus their diversion programs have when interacting with first time offenders. As it describes the main focus of the program it mentions how ninety percent of first time offenders who go through this program do not reoffend. This teen court diversion program is well known around the Lansing area of Michigan. It is well known because this program not just work with juveniles as they offend but also work closely with their family and the school they attend. Teen Court does not just focus on the individual it focuses on other factors that can potentially affect the youth.
Recently, diversion programs have cropped up in many states. The programs keep adolescents out of detention by using the communities around them to support them. The text states, that, “William S. Davidson II created the Adolescent Diversion Project, a project which pairs undergraduate students and adolescents found guilty of breaking and entering, and other crimes. These relationships have been found to cut the youths' rate of ending up back in jail for more offenses in half” (Source 4, 2). The diversion system is used by the courts to get juvenile offenders involved in their community and away from crime by showing them that there is another way to succeed in life, instead of a life of criminal activity.
The Justice Reinvestment Act was a national project, mainly designed to reduce state spending on corrections and apply those savings to community programs that decrease crime and strengthen communities. The Council of State Governments Justice Center, or CSG, headed the project and conducted a study of North Carolina’s criminal justice system to identify
The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention and Protection Act (JJDPA) was established in 1974 and was the first federal law that dealt comprehensively with juvenile delinquency to improve the juvenile justice system and support state and local efforts at delinquency prevention. This paper will assess the JJDPA and summarize its purpose and implementation and enforcement. Next, there will be a discussion of the historical context of the policy; followed by a focus of the latent consequences. Finally there will be a vignette as to how this Act has affected a person or family as well as personal reflection toward the policy.
The main goal was to be able to prevent delinquency and improve juvenile justice system by providing local and state efforts with discretionary and block grants that supplied support to youth programs developed by public and private youth agencies. Each state has four requirements they must achieve and maintain to receive the formula grants program which are “deinstitutionalization of status offenders, separation of youth from adults in secure facilities, removal of youths from adult jails and lockups, and addressing disproportionate minority contact with the juvenile justice systems.” Failure to acheive and maintain these four requirements will result in a decrease which isn’t effective for the youth who are entering the juvenile justice system since their goal is to prevent and provide services that will change and shape their future. The main type of facilities that are provided by this act are juvenile detention centers, long-term secure facility, reception center, and diagnostic center. These facilities were provided to give the children a sense of how the adult system operates, but provide many inside resources that work toward helping them return to their life in a safe and healthy way so they will not
If community oriented programs are not becoming more of a priority for the at-risk children in the community, those children have a greater chance of entering the system and not leaving it. An example of this type of program is the Project Positive Action through Holistic Education. The program helps the students grow a link to schools. Project Positive Action through Holistic Education includes “peer teaching, school-pride campaigns, peer counseling services, job fairs, and career planning (Araki, 2003)” to help students prepare for the future and keep them out of trouble in the present. Juveniles should be able to leave the detention centers when finished with their sentences and join the real world without being pulled back into the Criminal Justice System.
The “Primetime: New Model for Juvenile Justice” video discusses that kids in Missouri commit crimes because the families are not supportive, kids are abused by the parents and feel abandon by their parents, and the new model of the juvenile justice system in Missouri. Most importantly is the fact that the model consisting of programs such the Rosa Parks Center and Waverly Youth Center should be followed or attempted as it shows it works to rehabilitate the kids. Both programs are not a jail but a place in which kids share their problems and feelings in a small group setting. Missouri Juvenile Justice system knew that the traditional juvenile jail did not work in Missouri so the creation of these youth centers to work with kids’ behavioral problems.
Within the urban communities, negative perceptions are magnified. Adolescents are more prone to be a product of their environment, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. Because of this trend adolescents are being incarcerated at an alarming rate and sentenced to adult facilities. Lambie & Randall (2013) states, the United States have imposed harsher penalties on serious young offenders, and have consequently increased rates of incarcerated youth and made it easier for youth to be treated and incarcerated as adults within the justice
I believe, that the positive and negative differences I noticed are necessary for the Juvenile Detention Center. These juveniles are there because they have committed criminal offenses that require them to be locked up. But, the purpose and main goal of juvenile corrections are focused on rehabilitation. I think that this facility provides the right amount of correction and rehabilitation to try and guide these juveniles to a better path in life.
(1994). JUVENILE OFFENDERS: WHAT WORKS? A Summary of Research