Wisconsin Seeking Juvenile Justice Reform Recommendations

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's Juvenile Justice Commission is seeking concept papers for evidence-based and collaborative initiatives that will improve their local juvenile justice systems. Specifically, their funding priorities are:

• Juvenile justice system improvement in the area of disproportionate minority contact
• Juvenile justice system improvement in the area of maintaining compliance with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
• Juvenile justice system improvement by enhancing capacity-building at the state and local levels
• Juvenile justice system improvement in the area of data collections/information-sharing at the state and local levels

Examples of initiatives that may be funded include:

• Initiatives that divert or keep youth from being referred to the juvenile justice system by developing alternative informal and community-based early intervention and prevention strategies
• Data collection and/or juvenile records improvement initiatives
• Initiatives that promote policy, practice, and/or system change to keep youth out of secure detention and correctional facilities
• Staff and partner system training that increases the skill level of county staff and partner agencies to implement and sustain cost-effective practices and programs working with youthful offenders
• Initiatives that provide effective services to high-risk and/or high need populations, e.g. youth with mental health issues, youthful sex offenders, youth with substance abuse issues, etc.

Concept papers are due by noon on December 20, 2012. 
Visit the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance for more information and to apply.

Liz Wu is a Digital Accounts Manager at Prichard Communications, where she oversees digital outreach for Reclaiming Futures and edits Reclaiming Futures Every Day. Before joining the Prichard team, Liz established the West Coast communications presence for the New America Foundation, where she managed all media relations, event planning and social media outreach for their 6 domestic policy programs. Liz received a B.A. in both Peace and Conflict Studies and German from the University of California at Berkeley. She tweets from @LizSF.
 
 
 
*Photo at top by Flickr user Sean MacEntee