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Assessing the Need for Secure Detention: A Planning Approach

NCJ Number
150738
Author(s)
M A Jones; D Steinhart
Date Published
1994
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) has developed a strategic planning process to help jurisdictions evaluate their need for secure bedspace for juvenile detention and to consider nonsecure alternatives to total confinement.
Abstract
NCCD's approach combines three elements: (1) a process of goal setting with local juvenile justice decisionmakers, (2) a population projection technology, and (3) the development of policy and program options for reducing the needs for detention plans. NCCD has organized its approach into a series of six phases that guide the production of a comprehensive plan for juvenile detention bedspace. These phases include (1) identifying detention issues, problems, and goals; (2) analyzing the juvenile detention referral population; (3) forecasting detention needs assuming a continuation of existing programs, policies, and procedures; (4) identifying program and policy options; (5) examining the potential impact of alternative policy scenarios; and (6) developing a comprehensive detention utilization plan. The overall planning framework must be flexible enough to allow administrators to present a range of policy options in which costs, benefits, and implications are presented for decisionmaking. Case examples from San Francisco and Sacramento County (Calif.), figure, tables, note, and 8 references