Developing a statewide strategic plan for juvenile reentry to improve the successful reintegration of juveniles into the community.

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of incarcerated adults and juveniles who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile residential facilities and are returning to their communities. Developing a juvenile reentry system that reduces recidivism and improves positive youth outcomes is extremely challenging for even the most sophisticated tate or local juvenile correctional agency. This program will provide funding for 12-month planning grants during which time state or local-level juvenile justice agencies will convene a reentry task force and develop and finalize a comprehensive statewide juvenile reentry systems reform strategic plan. This plan will guide efforts to reduce the historical baseline recidivism rates for youth returning from confinement in state or locally run and/or managed juvenile correctional facilities. The plan will also guide efforts to reform the system to include: (1) improved assessment policies and practices, (2) a more integrated approach to prerelease services and planning and post-release services and supervision that reflects what research demonstrates improves youth outcomes, and (3) enhanced program/policy monitoring, quality assessments, implementation supports, accountability practices, and youth outcome data collection, analysis, reporting, and decision-making. When grantees complete their strategic plan, OJJDP will invite them to submit applications for implementation grants of between $1 and $2 million to implement their plans. Future funding decisions for implementation grants will be competitive and will consider the quality and comprehensiveness of the strategic plan and associated solicitation deliverables.

The target population for this project is youth returning from youth development centers (YDCs) and other residential placements that include multipurpose group homes, Eckerd short-term residential facilities, WestCare short-term residential facilities, and psychiatric residential treatment facilities (PRTFs). The North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice (DACJJ) proposes a multi-faceted approach to better improve outcomes for juveniles leaving secure confinement settings. DACJJ is the lead agency for this initiative and will facilitate collaboration across governmental and community-based youth serving entities. A statewide reentry task force will be assembled with key stakeholders and community partners to inform DACJJ and youth serving agencies how to best provide seamless educational, vocational, and programmatic reentry opportunities to those who have penetrated the deepest parts of the juvenile justice system.

Project deliverables will include documentation of task force activities, a recidivism measurement plan, an implementation plan, a sustainability plan, and rigorous process and outcome evaluations. North Carolina expects this project to facilitate its end goal of reducing recidivism among the most serious and violent offenders, as well as improve the public's understanding of the transitions youth experience from the juvenile to the adult criminal justice system. CA/NCF