Mississippi Juvenile Justice System Reform

The primary activities of this Mississippi Juvenile Justice System Reform project will build toward shared findings from across a range of system partners and activities to inform a final report with recommendations for policy and practices to improve the Mississippi juvenile justice system and sustain effective diversion programs that result from this initiative. The findings from an evaluation of funded projects and a study of cost savings associated with higher diversion and lower incarceration rates will be incorporated into the Steering Committee’s policies and practices recommendations to the state legislature and for advocacy for investment of state and county funding of diversion, delinquency prevention, and intervention programming. The project will include youth and family voice through the inclusion of family satisfaction surveys, which will help guide decision-making around each component of the program.