Juvenile Justice Evidence Translation Project

OJJDP’s Juvenile Justice Evidence Translation Project aims to increase the identification and use of evidence-based approaches, and promising and best practices, for addressing the needs of at-risk and juvenile justice system-involved youths, their families, and their communities. To accomplish OJJDP’s goals for this project, we will undertake a systematic curation of juvenile justice research and knowledge in key focus areas and emerging topics. This curation will build on and expand the Model Programs Guide and CrimeSolutions, capturing not only rigorous empirical research, but also other credible knowledge. Development Services Group (DSG) has selected five potential topics: 1) implementing quality diversion programs for at-risk youth before court involvement; 2) improving access to and quality of community-based mental health supports for at-risk and system-involved youth; 3) incorporating trauma-informed approaches throughout the continuum of care; 4) using credible messengers with high-risk youth living in the community; 5) the role of Medicaid in providing services to youth after leaving residential care. DSG will develop carefully tailored translational tools and other resources on what works in juvenile justice, based on a diverse array of different knowledge bases. The resources will be accessible, comprehensible, action-oriented, and user-friendly, to ensure that nonresearcher practitioners and lay persons can apply the information to create and sustain positive change across the juvenile justice continuum. Topical areas, content, and delivery mechanisms will all be developed with input from youth who have lived experience in the juvenile justice system, their families, and other stakeholders.