Raleigh
Oct 6, 2015
Governor Pat McCrory announced that North Carolina is one of three states to be awarded a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grant to implement an innovative reintegration of juvenile offenders into the community.
“
Our strategy focuses on improved assessment, delivering the appropriate education or workforce training and family engagement so they can be the support system for their child when they re-enter the community,
” Governor McCrory said. “
Our youth must be given every chance to succeed and reach their potential
.”
The U.S. DOJ awarded the North Carolina Department of Public Safety $1.1 million ($735,000 with a required match of $367,500) to implement the new community reentry program.
“We are excited about the enhanced opportunities for system reform this grant brings North Carolina,” said DPS Secretary Frank Perry. “The federal funding allows us to continue to improve the way we do business, which heightens public safety while improving the outcomes for the youth and families we serve.”
Specific elements to be created by the new program include
- Improved juvenile assessment policies and practices
- A comprehensive service plan throughout the juvenile justice system continuum
- Creation and implementation of a tool to match juveniles to the services they need
- Delivery of effective and developmentally appropriate programming for juveniles, including the development of an education and workforce development strategy that targets criminogenic needs
- Implementation of a family engagement and strengthening strategy to ensure that juveniles reentering family life can depend upon a strong and stable support system
- Documenting the effects of this reentry reform strategy on recidivism, education, employment and behavioral health outcomes
This new strategic reentry plan was designed by officials within the Department of Public Safety’s Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice in consultation with its Juvenile Justice Reentry Reform Task Force, which is comprised of professionals from the fields of juvenile justice, mental health, the courts, community-based programs and workforce development.
To assist with enhancements to service planning/matching and reentry efforts, Juvenile Justice has initiated a partnership with North Carolina’s Government Data Analytics Center (GDAC), a data integration hub and business intelligence program developed as a private-public partnership between state government and its corporate partner, SAS.