Embedding Detention Reform in State Statutes, Rules and Regulations A Guide to Juvenile Detention Reform True to its title, this report aims to help jurisdictions embed the goals of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) into state law. How it does this—by pairing an expansive collection of policy excerpts with helpful tips and a tool for assessing existing strategies—allows sites to create a customized game plan for advancing the tenets of JDAI reform. JDAI—a product of the Annie E. Casey Foundation—is a multi-year, multi-site effort to create a safer, fairer detention system while championing the use of more effective, efficient alternatives to secure confinement. Read More
Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) 2013 Annual Results Report Inter-site Conference Summary This report—the fifth of its kind—serves as an annual results recap for Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. It packages data from 131 sites across the country that are committed to one cause: reducing the use of secure confinement for juveniles. Readers will learn how participating jurisdictions have succeeded in creating a fairer, safer and more efficient justice system for today’s youth—and where there is still much work to be done. The goal? Use this statistical progress check to deepen our understanding of the overall impact, influence and leverage of this detention reform movement. Read More
Noncitizen Youth in the Juvenile Justice System A guide to juvenile detention reform This report—the seventh in a series focused on juvenile detention reform—boldly goes where few reports have gone before: straight to the intersection of immigration and the American juvenile justice system. Readers will learn how to help ensure the safe and fair treatment of noncitizen youth in detention by adopting policies and procedures that are consistent with the goals of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI). Launched in 1992, Annie E. Casey Foundation’s JDAI is a multi-year, multi-site effort to reduce reliance on secure detention while creating a more efficient and equitable juvenile justice system. Read More
2014 Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative Progress Report This publication provides a detailed update on the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. Read More
Closing Massachusetts' Training Schools Reflections Forty Years Later This publication recounts a one-day symposium convened in 2011 to remember and reconsider a historic reform campaign — the closure of Massachusetts’ entire network of juvenile reform schools in the early 1970s. The report provides a history of the campaign and its aftermath, summarizes the major themes and ideas presented at the symposium and details the conclusions and recommendations from group discussions. Read More
Food at Home Affordable Housing as a Platform to Overcome Nutritional Challenges The report highlights programs and best practices that address the nutritional needs of low-income communities. Readers will learn recommendations that demonstrate how affordable housing can be a platform and how housing providers can play a vital role in ensuring that low-income families have access to healthy foods. Read More
Realizing the Power of Youth and Young Adult Voice Through Youth Leadership Boards This issue brief explores the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative’s experience in developing and implementing youth leadership boards. It includes the perspectives of young people in foster care and the adults engaged with them. Read More
What's Going On In There? Understanding the Adolescent Brain and Its Implication for Young People This fact sheet outlines brain research for teens and how kids in foster care are impacted during development by the lack of close relationships. Read More
When Child Welfare Works: Discussions from the Field A Proposal to Finance Best Practices Since the release of When Child Welfare Works: A Working Paper, many organizations and individuals have weighed in with significant feedback on comprehesive child welfare systems reform, and in the spirit of continuing a public dialogue about this critical issue, this document presents the collective feedback on the recommendations presented in the working paper. Read More
Juvenile Detention Facility Assessment 2014 Update This publication provides a guide to help Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative sites improve conditions in juvenile detention facilities. Read More