Mentoring High-Risk Youth in Juvenile Justice Settings

Welcome to theCalifornia Mentoring Partnership,

Northern California Training!Trainers: Sarah Kremer and Roger Jarjoura, Ph.D.

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

Definitions

Juvenile Detention

Juvenile Corrections

Juvenile Probation

Delinquency Court

Youth Court/Teen

Court

Dependency Court

Six Juvenile Justice Settings

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.

Project Overview

Project Overview

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is a leader in recognizing that well-designed and well-implemented 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

MENTOR

Global Youth Justice

National Partnership for Juvenile Services

Research Team

J. Mitchell Miller, Ph.D.

Holly V. Miller, Ph.D.

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.

Key Findings

Juvenile DetentionWhile 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

• Identification phase• Sources of identification: law enforcement or juvenile probation, family, social worker

Step 2

• Court appearance• Types of court: youth, family, dependency, delinquency

Step3

• Eligibility assessment by court• Judge or other governing body assess youth for eligibility in mentor program

Step 4

• Referral to mentor program by court

Step 5

• Referral received by mentor program• Eligibility determination and assessment by mentor program

Step 6

• Potential mentor identified

Step 7

• Match made between mentor and mentee

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

• Juvenile justice settings use mentoring60%

• Mentoring programs serve youth from juvenile justice40%

• Mentoring programs use individually based mentoring80%

• More likely when programs utilized Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring

Positive Outcomes

Key Findings: National Survey

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

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.

Key Findings: Site Visits

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

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

Key Findings: Site VisitsReported Advantages of Embedded Mentoring Programs

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 high-risk youth involved in JJ settings.

Youth in longer-term placements can

build longer-term mentoring

relationships.

Lunch Discussion Questions1.Why do mentoring programs want to work

with youth involved with juvenile probation?

2.Why do those who work in juvenile justice settings want youth involved with mentoring programs and mentors?

3.Which of our youth are best suited for mentoring?

Small GroupsHow 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?

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

Not a binding contractOutlines a

commitment between parties

MOU

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.

Opportunities for Partnership

Relationships MOUs

Additional Resources

Juvenile Detention

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention – Mentoring Resources

http://www.ojjdp.gov/programs/mentoring.html

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/