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Want to know how to seal or expunge your criminal record? Visit the For Youth section for more information on youth records.
Find DJJ-funded programs in your area using the Program & Facility Locator.
Juvenile Justice Boards & Councils focus on crime prevention in their local communities.
Review DJJ forms by office or by subject. Forms are available for download in multiple file formats.
Juvenile Probation Officers (JPO) assess the needs and risks of youth entering the juvenile justice system.
Browse online health tips and resources by topic in the Health Initiatives section.
The Civil Citation Dashboard contains data on Florida’s use of Civil Citation as an alternative to arrest for 1st time misdemeanants.
The Juvenile Justice System Improvement Project (JJSIP) is a national initiative to reform the juvenile justice system by translating "what works" into everyday practice and policy.
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Research
In conjunction with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Department has implemented the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) to support the vision that all juvenile justice involved youth will have opportunities to develop into healthy, productive adults. Applying JDAI core strategies and decision making based on data-driven policies and practices will establish system accountability to reduce secure detention placements, and promote long-lasting productive outcomes for youth development and public safety.
JDAI is a detention reform and juvenile justice system improvement initiative launched in 1992 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in urban and rural jurisdictions. JDAI demonstrates that moving low-risk youth from secure detention into community-based alternative programs is an effective public policy.
JDAI establishes outstanding public safety outcomes, minimizes detention over-crowding, and creates savings for taxpayers by reducing secure detention placements and the need for more expensive facilities. It improves efficiencies in juvenile justice system operations and produces better outcomes for youth and their families.
The Florida Youth Justice Commission (FYJC) is a partnership established to promote continuous juvenile justice system improvement. The commission provides support to local sites and works to implement reform for cross cutting concerns. This ongoing juvenile justice system improvement is conducted using the Annie E. Casey’s Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI) strategies. These strategies aim to ensure that local reforms are successful and on-going improvements are sustainable at all levels of government. Selection as an official JDAI site and timeframes for start-up are based on both a site’s readiness to engage in the challenging work of system reform and resources available to Florida JDAI. Annie E. Casey Foundation’s JDAI is a nationally known initiative that has been successfully implemented in jurisdictions around the country. Although it is well known for detention reform, the work of this initiative facilitates system improvement across the entire juvenile justice continuum.
FYJC membership includes, but is not limited to, representatives from:
Read the JDAI newsletters and other publications.
Yes, several of the JDAI Core Strategies focus on detention; however as a process, JDAI is not a “get out of jail” card. The very fabric of JDAI surrounds the use of the detention, and using the framework to identify trends of the use of detention, can provide an insight of areas of improvement. When discussing the use of detention, the local collaborative should be focused on leveling the playing field so that similarly situated youth, are treated similarly.
When used to the fidelity of the model, the local collaborative should be able to safely develop alternatives to detention. (See Alternatives to Detention Core Strategy, and access JDAIhelpdesk.org for Pathways # 4 for additional information)
Working in the system provides stakeholders with an intimate view on these possible trends, however, these trends are often identified through our professional looking glass. We each have a unique view on what is going on within the system, however, it is not a complete picture.
JDAI allows us to use high level data to identify areas of improvement, while the local collaborative digs deeper to explain why the data present accordingly. Once these areas have been identified by using the data, JDAI provides a framework in working through the model. (See JDAI Core Strategy Framework)
The great thing about JDAI is that is has been around for years, and is used in over 300 jurisdictions. Having all of those jurisdictions successfully using JDAI, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has created a help desk which provides best practices which have been used across the JDAI network. These best practices span all of the core strategies, and can provide assistance with solutions. Chances are the trends and areas of improvement are not unique to Florida.
See JDAIHelpdesk.org for more information on best practices. Also be sure to utilize your JDAI Coordinator as they are JDAI EXPERTS.