Introductions
Agenda
10:00- 10:20am
Introductions and Today’s Agenda
10:20- 10:40am
Project Overview (large group)
10:40- 11:30am
Definitions
11:30- 12:00pm
Key Findings
12:00- 12:45pm
Lunch
12:45- 1:00pm
Resources: Profiles, MOU’s, and Elements of Effective Practice
1:00- 1:45pm
Small groups: Juvenile Detention and Juvenile Corrections
1:45- 2:30pm
Small groups: Juvenile Probation and Delinquency Court
2:30- 2:45pm
Break
2:45- 3:30pm
Small groups: Youth Court/Teen Court and Dependency Court
3:30- 4:00pm
Opportunities for Partnership
4:00- 4:30pm
Wrap up and Questions
Why are we
here today?
Learning Objectives
Participants will gain an understanding of:
•
•
•
Six juvenile justice settings
The advantages and challenges of offering
mentoring services within each setting
Promising practices mentoring within or in
partnership with each setting with a focus on
the referral stage
Project Overview
Project Overview
The Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
is a leader in recognizing that
well-designed and wellimplemented mentoring can have
a tremendous, positive impact on
a youth's life chances in
particular, “high-risk” youth.
Project Overview
OJJDP funded Researching the Referral
Stage of Youth Mentoring in Six Juvenile
Justice Settings:
• Juvenile Corrections
• Juvenile Detention
• Juvenile Probation
• Delinquency Court
• Youth/Teen Court
• Dependency Court
Project Overview
This exploratory research is designed
to inform the mentoring referral
process for delivery of mentoring
services to “high-risk” youth for the
purpose of reducing delinquent
behavior, alcohol and drug abuse,
truancy, and other problem behaviors.
Partner
Organizations
Research Team
MENTOR
J. Mitchell Miller,
Ph.D.
Global Youth Justice
Holly V. Miller, Ph.D.
National Partnership
for Juvenile Services
J.C. Barnes, Ph.D.
Research Questions
•
•
•
What are the best practices in identifying and
referring youth to mentoring programs across
distinct juvenile justice settings?
What is the capacity of the mentoring
community to support the youth identified for
mentoring from six juvenile justice settings?
What intermediate outcomes are achieved by
mentoring throughout the settings?
Qualitative Data
Site visits
Interviews with staff
and administrators
Questionnaires
Quantitative Data: Survey Sample
The survey
netted a large
sample size (N
= 1,197)
All 50 United
States were
represented by
the survey
respondents
Program
respondents
hailed from a
variety of
community
types ranging
from urban,
suburban, rural,
and tribal
communities.
Definitions
Juvenile
Detention
Dependency
Court
Juvenile
Corrections
Six Juvenile
Justice
Settings
Youth
Court/Teen
Court
Juvenile
Probation
Delinquency
Court
Juvenile Detention
Secure facilities that provide
for the short-term,
temporary, safe custody
of juveniles alleged to have
committed a delinquent
act/offense
Juvenile Corrections
Secure, residential facilities that
provide for the long-term,
safe custody of juveniles
adjudicated on felony or multiple
misdemeanor offenses. These
facilities typically are considered
to be high security.
What is the
difference
between
detention and
corrections?
Juvenile Probation
Community-based
corrections program where
probation officers supervise and
monitor youth under court
jurisdiction, ensuring they comply
with all court orders. Probation
officer provides direction, guidance,
rehabilitation.
Delinquency Court
Delinquency Courts have
jurisdiction over juveniles,
juvenile delinquents, status offenders
and children and youth in need of
supervision. The Delinquency Court is
most commonly associated with the
Juvenile Justice System and juveniles
who have committed a crime, status
offense and/or violation.
Youth Court/ Teen Court
Diversion programs in which peers
sentence juveniles for minor crimes,
offenses and/or violations. These
programs are administered locally
by law enforcement agencies, probation
departments, delinquency courts,
schools and local nonprofit
organizations.
Dependency Court
The Dependency Court is most
commonly associated with foster
care, abuse and neglect
issues involving children and
youth younger than 18.
Key Findings
Juvenile Detention
While mentoring is not used as a
diversion from adjudication per se,
it is, in many instances, viewed as
one component of a holistic
approach to delinquency prevention
and intervention.
Conceptual Model of the “Typical”
Referral Process
Step
1
Step
2
• Identification phase
• Sources of identification: law enforcement or juvenile probation, family, social worker
• Court appearance
• Types of court: youth, family, dependency, delinquency
• Eligibility assessment by court
Step3 • Judge or other governing body assess youth for eligibility in mentor program
Step • Referral to mentor program by court
4
Step
5
• Referral received by mentor program
• Eligibility determination and assessment by mentor program
Step • Potential mentor identified
6
Step • Match made between mentor and mentee
7
Who refers youth in JJ settings?
Probation officers
Judges
Magistrates
Social Workers and Case Managers
Public Defenders
Administrative Office of the Courts
Police Officers
Court Clerks
Public Defenders
School Officials and Administrators
Key Findings: National Survey
60%
• Juvenile justice settings use
mentoring
40%
• Mentoring programs serve
youth from juvenile justice
80%
• Mentoring programs use
individually based mentoring
Positive
Outcomes
• More likely when programs
utilized Elements of Effective
Practice for Mentoring
Key Findings: National Survey
Risk Assessment Prior to Referral De
Majority of juvenile justice settings reported
between 76 to 100% of youth are charged with a
crime prior to being referred to a mentoring
program
Relatedly, the majority of juvenile justice settings
reported always assessing youth for their level
of risk prior to making a referral to mentoring
program.
Key Findings: National Survey and Site Visits
Top Reasons for Match Failure
Youth or family
refusal or lack of
support
Serious mental
health issues on
the part of the
youth
Lack of suitable
adult mentors
Key Findings: Site Visits
Staff meetings
Mentoring juvenile justice youth
is more successful when
mentoring program staff are
involved in regular probation or
other staff meetings.
Key Findings: Site Visits
Voluntary
participation
Youth have a greater degree
of commitment to the
mentoring experience when
participation is voluntary.
Key Findings: Site Visits
Knowledge
about Juvenile
Justice System
Mentor/staff should have a
background understanding of the
Juvenile Justice System.
Key Findings: Site Visits
Close
working
partnerships
Probation officers and other juvenile
justice staff working in close
partnership with mentoring program
staff is key to successes.
Definition of Embedded Programs
A program that is housed
inside a juvenile justice
setting either:
• developed by the juvenile
justice setting or
• implemented by an outside
mentoring program
Key Findings: Site Visits
Reported Advantages of Embedded Mentoring Programs
Greater access to information about
youth’s needs
More seamless referral process
Greater success in matching and shorter
waiting lists
More understood and valued by juvenile
justice staff
Better able to track youth’s long term
outcomes
Specialized Programs
Mentoring programs with a
specific and/or sole purpose of
serving youth from a specific JJ
setting have an advantageous
level of knowledge, skill and ability
in providing effective mentoring
services for a wide range of highrisk youth involved in JJ settings.
Youth in longerterm placements can
build longer-term
mentoring
relationships.
Resources: Profiles,
MOUs, and Elements of
Effective Practice
Resources: Setting Profiles
Overview of content:
•
•
•
•
Definition of Setting
Youth Served
Frequently Asked Questions
What's Working
• Example of Promising
Strategies
• Challenges and Action Steps
• Terms and Definitions
• Resources
Resources: MOU’s
Overview of content:
• Definitions
• Tips and Strategies for Writing
MOU’s
• Policy and Programmatic
Discussion Points
• Training and Technical Assistance
Resources
What
is an
MOU?
Document
that
describes a common
understanding of a
working relationship
Provides a
framework for
partnership
MOU
Not a binding
contract
Outlines a
commitment
between parties
Why is an
MOU
important?
The MOU provides a
structure for a
working relationship and
clarifies what each of
the partners will do to
further the
collaboration.
Small Groups
Juvenile Detention and Juvenile Corrections
How are youth from this
setting identified and
referred to mentoring
programs in our
community? What works
well? What has not?
What best practices must
we adopt in our
community in order to
serve youth from this
juvenile justice setting?
What are the pros and
cons of mentoring for
youth involved in this
setting?
Juvenile Detention
Secure facilities that provide
for the short-term,
temporary, safe custody
of juveniles alleged to have
committed a delinquent
act/offense
Juvenile Corrections
Secure, residential facilities that
provide for the long-term,
safe custody of juveniles
adjudicated on felony or multiple
misdemeanor offenses. These
facilities typically are considered
to be high security.
Small Groups
Juvenile Probation and Delinquency Court
How are youth from this
setting identified and
referred to mentoring
programs in our
community? What works
well? What has not?
What best practices must
we adopt in our
community in order to
serve youth from this
juvenile justice setting?
What are the pros and
cons of mentoring for
youth involved in this
setting?
Juvenile Probation
Community-based
corrections program where
probation officers supervise and
monitor youth under court
jurisdiction, ensuring they comply
with all court orders. Probation
officer provides direction, guidance,
rehabilitation.
Delinquency Court
Delinquency Courts have
jurisdiction over juveniles,
juvenile delinquents, status offenders
and children and youth in need of
supervision. The Delinquency Court is
most commonly associated with the
Juvenile Justice System and juveniles
who have committed a crime, status
offense and/or violation.
Small Groups
Youth Court/Teen Court and Dependency Court
How are youth from this
setting identified and
referred to mentoring
programs in our
community? What works
well? What has not?
What best practices must
we adopt in our
community in order to
serve youth from this
juvenile justice setting?
What are the pros and
cons of mentoring for
youth involved in this
setting?
Youth Court/ Teen Court
Diversion programs in which peers
sentence juveniles for minor crimes,
offenses and/or violations. These
programs are administered locally
by law enforcement agencies, probation
departments, delinquency courts,
schools and local nonprofit
organizations.
Dependency Court
The Dependency Court is most
commonly associated with foster
care, abuse and neglect
issues involving children and
youth younger than 18.
Opportunities
for Partnership
Relationships
MOUs
Additional Resources
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention – Mentoring Resources
http://www.ojjdp.gov/programs/mentoring.html
Juvenile
Detention
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention – Model Program
Guide/Mentoring
http://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/progTypesMentoring.aspx
Global Youth Justice Website – Mentoring High Risk Youth Resources
http://www.globalyouthjustice.org/Mentoring.html
National Partnership for Juvenile Services – Mentoring High Risk Youth Resources
http://www.npjs.org/
MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership
http://www.mentoring.org/