| |
Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Technical Assistance Initiative
Through the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, CWLA established the Juvenile Justice Division in July 2000 with the objective of supporting the education of juvenile justice, child welfare, related youth-serving organizations and agencies, and CWLA members regarding the connection between child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency, and the need for an integrated approach to programs and services across the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
CWLA has long believed that system integration and reform is best accomplished through a comprehensive, strategic planning process that embraces and values inclusion of youth, families, and a broad representation of youth-serving agencies and organizations. This approach uses the best available information, research, and practices to guide the process.
With the 2002 release of the monograph A Framework for Community Action: Making Children a National Priority, CWLA reaffirmed and deepened its commitment to support families, communities, agencies, and policymakers in their efforts to improve the lives of America's children and youth. A wealth of excellent models and resources already exists to guide our work. By melding these into a broad blueprint for change, CWLA's Framework brings into sharper focus the scope of the challenges and opportunities that state and local jurisdictions and communities will encounter in working to better meet the needs of their children, youth, and families.
Using these proven effective models, resources, and the core principles articulated in the Framework to guide recommended actions, the CWLA Juvenile Justice Division has developed a process and methodology to assist state and local jurisdictions achieve the goal of a more coordinated and integrated child welfare and juvenile justice system. The CWLA Juvenile Justice Division has developed a range of publications that support this work. These include:
Built from years of CWLA collaborations and partnerships, cosponsorship of state and local symposia, regional training, technical assistance, consultation experiences, and examination and use of the most credible research, program, and practice evidence, the Guide document will help state and local jurisdictions achieve greater system coordination and integration.
Additionally, CWLA has developed tools and resources that help state and local jurisdictions in a four-phase framework for strategic planning designed to improve outcomes for dual jurisdiction and/or youth and families that populate multiple youth systems. The phases are:
- Mobilization and Advocacy, which includes
- assessment of political and environmental readiness for systems reform,
- identification and commitment to strategic goals and objectives of the collaboration, and
- identification of and address sticking points which act as barriers to teamwork
- Study and Analysis, which includes
- data collection, management, and performance measurement (for example, establishing governance for data collection, identifying necessary aggregate data reports, developing procedures for use of reports, and considering development of an integrated information sharing system);
- inventory and assessment (for example, inventory of program and fiscal resources, and common screening and assessment instruments; identification of key decision points and decision makers; reviewing best practices or evidence-based strategies; and identifying potential for blending funds);
- legal And policy analysis (for example, examining and analyzing statutory, regulatory, formal, and informal policies, procedures, and protocols; clarifying laws, regulations, and policies that affect systems collaboration and information-sharing; and identifying data-sharing impediments and determining capacity to share information).
- Action Strategy Development, which includes
- identification of priorities for all program, service, and administrative components;
- development of priorities for an action agenda; and
- development of funding mechanisms necessary to support integrated approaches.
- Implementation, which includes
- agreement on timelines, phasing, milestones, and task assignment; and
- outcome evaluation with incremental measurement.
The goal of this effort is to develop improved cross-system coordination and integration through implementation of reformed statutes, policies, procedures, protocols, and practices. The focus within a state or local jurisdiction can be in areas of (1) coordination of data and data reports, (2) information-sharing and management, (3) case planning and management, (4) consolidation of resources, and (4) analysis of legal mandates and policies, all designed to improve outcomes for these dual jurisdiction or multisystem children, youth, and families.
With the 2002 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and the 2003 amendments to the Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act, providing further impetus for developing programs, practices, and policies toward improved system integration, CWLA is poised to help your jurisdiction, agency, organization, or community achieve improved outcomes for children, youth, and families. We look forward to developing a new--or deepening an existing--strategic partnership to accomplish this noble goal.
Visit our Consultation Initiatives page to learn more about work we have assisted in specific jurisdictions.
 Back to Top  Printer-friendly Page  Contact Us
|
|
