FY 2021 Emergency Planning for Juvenile Justice Residential Facilities

Deficiencies in juvenile justice residential facility emergency and disaster preparedness plans have been recognized by many experts, professional juvenile correctional leaders, and agency staff at the Federal level of government. The National Commission on Children and Disasters (Commission) issued a significant report in 2010 stating that juvenile justice residential plans designed to address disasters and emergencies were "basically continuity of operation plans rather than comprehensive disaster preparedness, response and recovery" plans that are designed to protect the physical and emotional well-being of children and youth in state or local juvenile justice care during and after a disaster or emergency. The goals of this proposal are 1) Assist states and jurisdictions to become more familiar with the guidance found in the OJJDP's Emergency Planning for Juvenile Justice Residential Facilities (guide) by providing technical assistance, content and resources that align with the guidance found in the OJJDP publication thus increasing their understanding of the necessary components of an effective emergency disaster plan and how to conduct a self-assessment of their existing plans to determine gaps and strengths and 2) Assist jurisdictions to improve existing emergency operations plans to juvenile justice residential facilities by providing training and technical assistance to a selected number of jurisdictions / facility staff members to plan, draft and write a comprehensive emergency disaster plan that is aligned with OJJDP guide. The Council of Juvenile Justice Administrators (CJJA) and American Institutes for Research (AIR) plan to achieve the following objectives: Support the development, improvement and/or implementation of emergency planning activities for the state, tribal, county and local juvenile justice residential facilities; Strengthen facility preparedness to maintain the efficient continuation of operations and reduce risk to the physical plant; Ensure the safety and well being of youth and staff in juvenile justice residential facilities; CJJA and AIR will achieve these objectives by addressing and strengthening multi-agency collaboration efforts in emergency preparedness and assisting jurisdictions/ facilities in developing comprehensive preparedness plans using an approach that is two-fold. First, to deliver training and technical assistance to juvenile justice state and local leaders designed to increase their understanding of the necessary components an effective emergency /disaster plan including how to conduct a self-assessment of their existing plans to determine gaps and strengths. Secondly, work directly with a selected number of jurisdictions /facility staff members to plan, draft and write a comprehensive emergency plan that is aligned with guidance found in the Emergency Planning for Juvenile Justice Residential Facilities.  Emergency Planning for Juvenile Residential Facilities (guide) can be found at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/23493.pdf