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Enhancing Local Juvenile Justice Systems in Illinois: Juvenile Justice Council Guidebook and Evaluation Manual

NCJ Number
199072
Author(s)
Timothy Lavery; Phillip Stevenson; Tracy Hahn
Date Published
July 2001
Length
188 pages
Annotation
This document discusses juvenile justice plan development, grant writing, and interagency agreements to assist juvenile justice councils in achieving responsibilities listed in the Illinois Juvenile Court Act.
Abstract
This guidebook describes how councils can develop and/or critically assess a needs assessment report on their juvenile justice system. A needs assessment report on a juvenile justice system describes various types of data on the system, such as court system data or risk factor data. The needs assessment report should broadly define the juvenile justice system and include data from agencies, organizations, and individuals not typically thought of as part of the juvenile justice system. A needs assessment can be used to identify needs, issues, and strengths in a juvenile justice system. These needs, issues, and strengths can be incorporated into a juvenile justice plan. The three types of data that may be included in a needs assessment are demographic, court system, and risk and protective factors. The plan structure should include plan introduction, mission statement, needs of the local juvenile justice system, goals and objectives, and action steps. Juvenile justice councils have a responsibility to develop a written interagency agreement that specifies the contributions each member agency will make toward achieving the goals of the plan. The interagency agreement can be treated as an “in good faith” public declaration of the contribution each council member and the agency they represent will make toward the completion of each plan component. Two examples are provided incorporating many of the suggestions included in the guidebook regarding the development of juvenile justice plans and interagency agreements. 4 appendices