NCJ Number
241839
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 76 Issue: 3 Dated: December 2012 Pages: 22-30
Date Published
December 2012
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article presents the results of an evaluation of a collaborative effort among several agencies responding to juvenile offenders.
Abstract
The evaluation focused on a county juvenile justice program designed to coordinate various agencies and to ensure that the agencies collaborate to provide supervision and services to juveniles in the system. The interagency work was coordinated by the Juvenile Justice Committee (JJC). The program met its most basic, self-defined goals for success; however, given the lack of adequate data on recidivism and the accountability of program providers, the evaluation could not determine whether the broader vision of the JJC was achieved. Given the wide range of expertise on the JJC, the issue of co-occurring behavioral problems was ripe for discussion and resolution. Unfortunately, the discussion did not occur, because collaborative committees require open, informed communication in which all participants feel comfortable discussing potentially controversial ideas and perspectives. Part of communication also requires participants to have an overall understanding of the roles and perspectives of the other committee members. The key to maximizing effectiveness for a committee of any size is for committee members to have mutual respect and subscribe to a common vision regarding the mission of the group, to formalize the structure of the committee, and to give individuals defined roles and shared power (Kraus, 1980). The evaluation initially considered the literature on juvenile justice collaboration. This was followed by informational meetings with key committee members to determine program components that the members identified as integral to program outcomes and to decide on a research design. Evaluators then began attending monthly committee meetings and interviewing individual committee members to determine how goals were set and how the JJC implemented and measured the goals. 44 references