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Key Elements of Effective Programs
In recent years, legislatures in a number of States have begun to reconsider the basic missions and purposes of their juvenile justice systems, turning away from the traditional offender-centered, treatment- and rehabilitation-oriented philosophy that has dominated the field for the better part of a century and toward an approach that emphasizes additional social goals, including the protection of the public and the promotion of individual accountability. In fact, at the end of the 1997 legislative sessions, 17 States had amended their juvenile court purpose clauses to emphasize this balanced approach to juvenile justice (Szymanski, 1998). Of these, Pennsylvania provides a particularly instructive example of an attempt to rethink a juvenile justice system "from the purpose clause down."
In 1995, a revision of the fundamental purpose clause of Pennsylvania's Juvenile Act discarded traditional "supervision, care, and rehabilitation" language and replaced it with a new requirement that juvenile courts "provide balanced attention to the protection of the community, the imposition of accountability for offenses committed and the development of competencies to enable children to become responsible and productive members of the community." The State's Juvenile Court Judges' Commission then held a series of conferences to explore the implications of the change. One product of the conferences was a publication intended for "broad distribution . . . at the community level," acknowledging that the change implied "new roles for judges, juvenile justice system professionals, crime victims, communities, and juvenile offenders" (Juvenile Court Judges' Commission, 1997).
Among the elements of the new accountability-based juvenile justice system role outlined by the Commission were the following:
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To regard crime victims and the community, in addition to juvenile offenders, as clients.
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To make community restoration and victim reparation by offenders a priority.
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To ensure that offenders understand the impact of their crimes.
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To develop community service options that are valued by communities and crime victims.
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To educate the community on its role.
The role of the community in an accountability-based system, according to the Commission, includes the following:
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To provide opportunities for valued community service and paid work experience for offenders.
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To provide assistance to crime victims, their families, and their support systems.
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To assist offenders in completing obligations by providing support.
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To share responsibility for monitoring offenders.
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To assist in holding the juvenile justice system accountable for fulfilling its responsibilities related to offender accountability.
The Commission also described aspects of the new role of offenders ("to participate in activities that increase empathy with crime victims") and of victims ("to provide information, throughout the juvenile justice process, about the financial, physical, and emotional impact of the crime") and suggested various accountability-related objective performance measures -- including the proportion of victims choosing to participate in the juvenile justice process, the amount of restitution paid, and the number of community service hours worked.
| Developing and Administering Accountability-Based Sanctions for Juveniles | JAIBG Bulletin
· September 1999 |
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