JDAI Core Strategies

JDAI^® is based on inter­con­nect­ed core strate­gies and approach­es to pro­mote smarter, more equi­table, more effi­cient and more effec­tive sys­tems that help meet the needs of young peo­ple and their fam­i­lies. Sites’ core strate­gies include:

• pro­mot­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion between juve­nile court offi­cials, pro­ba­tion agen­cies, pros­e­cu­tors, defense attor­neys, schools, com­mu­ni­ty orga­ni­za­tions and advocates;
   
• using rig­or­ous data col­lec­tion and analy­sis to guide deci­sion making;
   
• uti­liz­ing objec­tive admis­sions cri­te­ria and screen­ing instru­ments to replace sub­jec­tive deci­sion-mak­ing processes;
   
• imple­ment­ing new or expand­ed com­mu­ni­ty-based alter­na­tives to locked facil­i­ties — such as day and evening report­ing cen­ters, home con­fine­ment and shel­ter care;
   
• insti­tut­ing case pro­cess­ing reforms to expe­dite the flow of cas­es through the system;
   
• reduc­ing the num­ber of youth detained for pro­ba­tion rule vio­la­tions or fail­ing to appear in court, and the num­ber held in deten­tion await­ing trans­fer to a res­i­den­tial facility;
   
• improv­ing racial and eth­nic equi­ty by exam­in­ing data to iden­ti­fy poli­cies and prac­tices that may dis­ad­van­tage youth of col­or at var­i­ous stages of the process, and pur­su­ing strate­gies to ensure a more lev­el play­ing field for youth regard­less of race or eth­nic­i­ty; and
   
• mon­i­tor­ing and improv­ing con­di­tions of con­fine­ment in facilities.

Learn how fol­low­ing JDAI’s core strate­gies helped four states improve thi­er juve­nile jus­tice systems