Some common themes from the six briefing papers include:

 

1. Prevention science has yielded a set of field-tested, evidence-based practices shown to effectively promote youth development and reduce juvenile crime.

2. Such practices take advantage of new research findings on adolescent development, including the latest brain research, and of emerging research on risk and protective factors that must be targeted to foster youth resilience and prevent behavior problems and delinquency.   

3. Such practices are the foundation for many promising and critically needed juvenile justice reform efforts at the state and local levels nationwide.

4. These reforms have been advanced significantly by federal policy guidance and funding, notably the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) and the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

5. Evidence-based reforms have nudged the JJ system away from over-reliance on incarceration and punishment-focused interventions and toward more community-based, prevention-oriented methods. Whenever possible, these reforms divert juveniles from entering the system, improve, humanize and shorten their exposure to the system, and promote successful re-entry through access to services and supports that foster positive development.    

6. Reform efforts have helped to produce highly beneficial outcomes for youth and families, communities, and local and state governments, including: lower percentages of youth confined in adult settings; lower juvenile arrest rates and incarceration rates; and reduced recidivism.

 

 

 **If you would like to know more, please read our presentation systhesis.