Addressing the Training Needs of Juvenile Prosecutors

This program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants and cooperative agreements for training and technical assistance to organizations that OJJDP designates.

The National District Attorney’s Association will continue to serve as the national training and technical assistance resource center for juvenile court prosecutors. This program will support enhanced FY 2020 training to law enforcement and juvenile prosecutors (specifically training on investigation and prosecution of cases of gun crime, gang crime, drug offenses, sex crimes, domestic violence, and other violent offenses and to include training on making informed sentencing recommendations to courts based on risk to reoffend, antisocial attitudes and other criminogenic risk factors). The grantee will continue to work with the eight juvenile prosecution sites and will also work with the seven jurisdictions funded under the OJJDP FY 2020 Strategies to Support Children Exposed to Violence. The project would fulfill the need to be able to provide national TTA in this area particularly related to how prosecutors can address the most difficult juvenile cases. In order to meet these objectives, the grantee will continue to provide various types of technical assistance and resources and will host regional trainings for juvenile prosecutors. In addition, no less than the sum of $200,000 will be used to develop and host trainings and technical assistance efforts for communities across the country focused on prosecutor-led police and youth engagement. This programming will help prosecutors learn more about the key role they can play in supporting and strengthening relationships between law enforcement and the local communities in which they serve. CA/NCF

The FY 2019 Addressing the Training Needs of Juvenile Prosecutors program will fund training and technical assistance and other national-level resources to enhance the knowledge, skill level, and expertise of juvenile prosecutors in the United States through a comprehensive, coordinated, national training and technical assistance program. This funding will promote a nationwide approach to juvenile justice that balances public safety, juvenile offender accountability to victims, and life-skill development in youth so that the justice system is equitable, fair, and just. This program is authorized pursuant to Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2019, Pub. L. No. 116–6, 133 Stat. 13, 114-116, 119. The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) plans to develop training, technical assistance, and publications for juvenile prosecutors, their support staff, and allied criminal justice professionals. They will provide onsite training, at least one web-based training, technical assistance through its website and the Prosecutor's Encyclopedia, and a Juvenile Handbook. NDAA will also partner with an experienced former prosecutor with expertise in juvenile justice and substance abuse issues, who will serve as a senior attorney. NDAA will assemble two panels of leading juvenile prosecutors to create a national resource and gather assistance for the curriculum for training. NDAA will develop four 2.5-day trainings in different locations around the country and will also produce a National Practice Handbook that will contain the essential components of what every juvenile prosecutor should know about handling these cases, as well as an update to the Juvenile Justice Standards and Juvenile Prosecution Policies and Guidelines. NDAA will measure their performance through pre- and post-testing at courses, electronic evaluations of their training, and electronic follow-up surveys of knowledge application after the program or technical assistance. The grant funds will support project-related personnel and fringe benefits, supplies, meeting space/audiovisual rental, faculty and staff travel/per diem, and the indirect cost rate. CA/NCF

The FY 2019 Addressing the Training Needs of Juvenile Prosecutors program will fund training and technical assistance and other national-level resources to enhance the knowledge, skill level, and expertise of juvenile prosecutors in the United States through a comprehensive, coordinated, national training and technical assistance program. This funding will promote a nationwide approach to juvenile justice that balances public safety, juvenile offender accountability to victims, and life-skill development in youth so that the justice system is equitable, fair, and just. This program is authorized pursuant to Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2019, Pub. L. No. 116–6, 133 Stat. 13, 114-116, 119.

The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) plans to develop training, technical assistance, and publications for juvenile prosecutors, their support staff, and allied criminal justice professionals. They will provide onsite training, at least one web-based training, technical assistance through its website and the Prosecutor's Encyclopedia, and a Juvenile Handbook. NDAA will also partner with an experienced former prosecutor with expertise in juvenile justice and substance abuse issues, who will serve as a senior attorney. NDAA will assemble two panels of leading juvenile prosecutors to create a national resource and gather assistance for the curriculum for training. NDAA will develop four 2.5-day trainings in different locations around the country and will also produce a National Practice Handbook that will contain the essential components of what every juvenile prosecutor should know about handling these cases, as well as an update to the Juvenile Justice Standards and Juvenile Prosecution Policies and Guidelines. NDAA will measure their performance through pre- and post-testing at courses, electronic evaluations of their training, and electronic follow-up surveys of knowledge application after the program or technical assistance. The grant funds will support project-related personnel and fringe benefits, supplies, meeting space/audiovisual rental, faculty and staff travel/per diem, and the indirect cost rate.
CA/NCF

The NDAA Juvenile Justice Program supports the operation of a comprehensive national resource center to enhance juvenile prosecutors’ abilities to prosecute and prevent juvenile crime in the United States. The program currently provides training, technical assistance, and other national-level resources to enhance the knowledge, skill level, and expertise of juvenile prosecutors. These funded services promote a nationwide approach to juvenile justice that balances public safety, juvenile offender accountability to victims, and life-skill development in youth so that the justice system is equitable, fair, and just.  This new funding will support additional training opportunities to law enforcement and juvenile prosecutors nationwide. One of the most critical elements of NDAA’s plan forward will feature building relationships between police and the youth in the communities they serve. Specifically, at least $150,000 will be dedicated to training juvenile court prosecutors nationwide on how to best improve police-community relations in their jurisdictions. This training will build upon the existing training curriculum to include prevention and diversion opportunities that can allow youth to interact with law enforcement in a more positive and impactful way. 

This additional funding will also allow NDAA to further develop and showcase a brand-new curriculum within its Juvenile Justice portfolio to focus attention on the concrete steps that can be taken to engage youth and police officers to come together and have real discussions about issues that are impacting the current justice arena. As community leaders, prosecutors play a pivotal role in facilitating these conversations and working towards real solutions.  A full-time Project Coordinator on the juvenile team will create time for the Program Director and Senior Attorney to work on both curriculums, to present online and in person programming around the curriculum, and to gather feedback to enhance the curriculum going forward.  In addition to the work being done building relationships between police and the youth in the communities they serve, NDAA’s other primary objectives for this funding are to expand the scope and capacity to serve additional front-line professionals on a larger number of topics.  These include:  a) development of training opportunities for juvenile prosecutors, their support staff, and allied criminal justice professionals; b.) development of technical assistance efforts for juvenile prosecutors, their support staff, and allied criminal justice professionals; and c) development of publications for juvenile prosecutors, their support staff, and allied criminal justice professionals.

NDAA will create a virtual conference on youth and law enforcement relationships which will bring together youth organizations, law enforcement, education organizations and other community partners to learn about innovative practices in improving those relationships. NDAA will also create a video, with the input of youth, designed to improve youth and law enforcement relationships. The video and training materials will be shared on NDAA’s website for no cost. NDAA will also promote awareness about ways to improve those relationships at two national conferences. NDAA will conduct outreach to prosecutors in Raise the Age jurisdictions, provide technical assistance to them, and create trainings on the challenges in the prosecution of older youth, as well as a training on diversion. The trainings will include presentations on evidence-based programs. NDAA will enhance communication with its Advisory Boards, and OJJDP’s Juvenile Prosecutor and Children Exposed to Violence (CEV) Sites through more regular and more frequent meetings and will involve them in the planning of the virtual conference and video production. Increased involvement by these stakeholders will provide NDAA with important feedback regarding juvenile justice issues and training and technical assistance needs. Additionally, NDAA will provide technical assistance to prosecutors to ensure that they are in compliance with the requirements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency and Prevention Act (JJDPA).