In a renewed public–private partnership, OJJDP and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation are jointly providing $2 million to advance juvenile justice reform.
"Every youth who enters the juvenile justice system deserves to be treated fairly and to receive the help he or she needs," said OJJDP Administrator Robert L. Listenbee. "Together, our Office and the MacArthur Foundation are working with states and communities to build a better future for youth."
OJJDP and the MacArthur Foundation will each provide two years of funding at $125,000 per year to four organizations—the Center for Children’s Law and Policy (CCLP); the National Youth Screening and Assessment Project (NYSAP) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School; the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice (NCMHJJ) at Policy Research, Inc.; and the Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice (RFK NRCJJ)—to support innovative reforms in treatment and services for youth.
Through this partnership, established in 2011, OJJDP and MacArthur will support training and technical assistance for states and local governments to meet the mental health needs of system-involved youth, reduce racial and ethnic disparities, and promote coordination and integration for youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The funding will support the following projects:
"This work will help secure and build on important, developmentally appropriate advances in juvenile justice reform accomplished through the Models for Change initiative," said Laurie Garduque, MacArthur’s Director of Justice Reform. "This work builds on innovations proven effective in more than 35 states and is critical to continuing the momentum for improving outcomes for youth in contact with the law."
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More information about the MacArthur Foundation’s juvenile justice work and the foundation’s Models for Change initiative is available online.