Pathways to Prevention: Strategically Assessing & Enhancing The Youth Service System

The Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families is partnering with statewide nonprofit leaders, Family Service of Rhode Island and Tides Family Services, to launch the Pathways to Prevention: Strategically Assessing and Enhancing the Youth Service System project. This project will target the highest need youth who have been involved with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, particularly Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and People of Color youth who are historically at risk of/involved with the juvenile justice system. Together, they will (1) evaluate the existing array of services and supports for at-risk youth; (2) design high-impact, cost-effective, and evidence-based interventions for at-risk youth; and (3) set the stage to reduce juvenile justice system entry and reentry rates among at-risk youth. They will engage the community, strengthen local infrastructure communication and coordination, expand service delivery capacity, and ultimately reduce disproportionality in juvenile justice system involvement. Specific activities include establishing a project advisory committee composed of diverse stakeholders; creating subcommittees within the project advisory committee focused on specific areas such as service delivery, financial planning, and evaluation; conducting a systematic review and gap analysis of the current youth service system; developing a comprehensive community plan for evidence-based services; (5) advocating for the integration of community plan recommendations across existing service systems; and (6) disseminating project findings and products. The results from this statewide program will inform the work of regional and national partners seeking to successfully scale statewide interventions.