OJJDP FY 2021 Juvenile Justice System Reform Initiative

Project Design and Implementation

Goals, and Objectives:

Goal: Improve outcomes for system-involved youth in Arkansas by decreasing racial and ethnic disparities at all points of contact through use of validated screenings or assessments.

To accomplish this goal, we will partner with The Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center (“RFKNRC”), the National Center for Juvenile Justice (“NCJJ”), and the Impact Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (“Impact Center”) to lead a comprehensive juvenile justice system review to address racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system in Arkansas.  This will be accomplished through a 36-month timeframe with site and remote visits with the identified counties, data gathering, and policy review. In this effort, we will rely on research from the RFK Center to frame responses to the system issue.  

This proposal intends to achieve its goal to improve outcomes for juvenile system-involved youth in Arkansas by decreasing RED (racial ethnic disparities) in the accomplishment of the objectives stated below.

Project Objectives: 

  1. Complete assessment of available data from the 5 identified points of contact in the 5 identified counties to inform the prevalence of racial and ethnic disparities and an understanding of data capacity needs going forward. 
  2.  Analyze developed review and the drivers of RED by developing an understanding of system contact point processes and performance in the areas of administration, management, policy, practices, key decision points and decision-making, and the identification of strengths and opportunities in these domains. 
  3.  Develop evidence-based responses to address racial and ethnic disparities at identified points of contact in the juvenile justice system in consultation with TA partners. 
  4.  Implement evidence-based responses to address racial and ethnic disparities at identified points of contact.  
  5.  Measure and evaluate outcomes of the implemented responses.  
  6.  Adopt corresponding policy and practice changes as a result of the evaluation.