NCJ Number
241483
Date Published
November 2006
Length
68 pages
Annotation
Based on the findings of two surveys and site visits, this guidebook assists communities interested in establishing or strengthening a formal connection between the work-force and juvenile justice systems in order to facilitate employment opportunities for young offenders reentering their communities after incarceration.
Abstract
This effort stems from the enactment of the Federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in 1998, which directs the work-force system to tap emerging research and evidence on effective intervention that takes a more developmental approach to serving high-risk youth. Federal funding for work-force organizations under the WIA requires that they achieve a substantial increase in services for higher risk youth, particularly those who have had contact with the justice system. Failing to meet this objective can result in loss of funding. The two surveys and site visits identified the challenges being faced by communities in linking WIA-funded work-force organizations with the juvenile justice system. Five challenges were identified. One challenge is making the case for connecting the two systems. A second challenge is bridging the systems' cultures. A third challenge is identifying the key program components that promote retention of high-risk juveniles in the work force and decrease reoffending. A fourth challenge is making the work-force and employer connections for youth with a history of criminal offenses. A fifth challenge is setting and managing performance measures agreed upon by both the work-force and juvenile justice systems. The dynamics of each of the challenges is explained, and suggestions are offered for addressing each challenge. Appended Youth Offender Public Management Model, Intensive Aftercare Program Model, profiles of existing programs, and a list of resources