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Case Management with Juvenile Offenders: A Framework for Statutory Supervision

NCJ Number
204819
Author(s)
Elizabeth Moore
Date Published
2003
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This document discusses a case management approach to statutory supervision of sentenced juvenile offenders that is adaptable to urban and rural practice.
Abstract
A case management approach to statutory supervision of sentenced juvenile offenders is presented that incorporates principles and functions derived from community care practice. A valuable legacy of juvenile justice interventions is the embedding in many jurisdictions of strategies that divert selected offenders from formal justice responses. There is optimism about the potential effectiveness of a spectrum of emergent interventions that focus on reducing recidivism among sentenced youth. Needs assessment involves the use of pre-tested instruments that generate psycho-social indicators of individual functioning, and can provide a foundation for planned intervention and measurable outcomes. These assessments may be effective in gatekeeping the wide array of specialized programs that aim to rehabilitate offenders that evidence particular characteristics or offense types. A case management model of statutory supervision is needed to access what works within a broader social ecological approach to practice. This includes functions of community and client group needs assessment; individual assessment; service planning, implementation and monitoring; and evaluation. Among the decisions correctional administrators must make in planning a case management model is considerations relating to the extensiveness of the model. The more extensive the model, the better will be: the connection between agency planning and local initiatives; support of practitioner engagement at the primary, secondary, and tertiary intervention levels; flexibility in the configuration of resources; targeting of intervention; and capability for evidence based practice. 25 references