OJJDP – NPJS Project Training and Technical Assistance with Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders

The National Partnership for Juvenile Services (NPJS) will build upon lessons learned in Year One of the grant to modify, improve, and strengthen the overall plan to provide Training and Technical Assistance as a representative of OJJDP in their efforts to improve compliance with the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO) core requirement. During this project, NPJS will gather examples of success stories from jurisdictions across the US where through legislative activity, application of programs, implementation of tools, as well as other practices to ensure that status offenders are diverted from unnecessary entry into the juvenile justice system, specifically institutionalization. The identified programs, policies and practices will be formatted into a publication (Toolkit) which will allow other jurisdictions seeking to improve upon local efforts to select an approach that fits their needs.

NPJS will develop and offer training and technical assistance resources. State and local agencies requesting assistance will be assigned an NPJS consultant as project lead who, with the support of OJJDP leadership, will assist the requesting agency in identifying their specific needs. A targeted approach will be developed through the collaboration of the requesting agency, NPJS and OJJDP. Jurisdictions identified as experiencing success in the targeted area of need will be aligned with the requesting agency and will be incorporated as part of the team to develop a strategy toward DSO compliance. The strategy will include specific goals and measurable objectives with action steps. NPJS consultants will document the process to include agency efforts to overcome barriers and collaborations, resources and partnerships that evolve for future reference and continuous learning.

This project's intended beneficiaries will consist of jurisdictions (state and/or local) who want to fully comply with the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO) core requirement of the JJRA. Targeted beneficiaries include those jurisdictions (state and/or local) who voluntarily request technical assistance to comply with the DSO.