Digital Commons Network^™

Blueprint For A Youth Violence Intervention Program In East Baton Rouge Parish: Adapting Hospital-Based Strategies, Kristina G. Little, Elizabeth Winchester, Judith L F Rhodes

Reports

Youth violence in East Baton Rouge Parish remains a persistent public safety and public health challenge. This report proposes an adapted, evidence-informed model for East Baton Rouge Parish that retains the core components of traditional HVIPs while leveraging existing legal, hospital, and social service resources. The model is grounded in a public health framework and emphasizes trauma-informed, bedside intervention at the “teachable moment” when youth are most receptive to change, and long-term wraparound case management. The report concludes with recommendations for implementing this adapted approach, including identifying a health system champion, building referral protocols, embedding training, and developing a long-term …

Poverty Elimination Action Plan, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, City Of Omaha

Reports

This document fulfills the legislative requirements of LB 840, the Poverty Elimination Action Plan, aimed at reporting on Omaha efforts to eliminate poverty and developing a comprehensive strategy to eliminate poverty in Omaha, NE. It reviews research and policy interventions addressing poverty, incorporates community-driven and secondary data for a needs assessment, and offers actionable recommendations for poverty alleviation. The report also provides guidance on implementation, sustainability, and progress tracking. A brief conclusion at the end of this report is followed by appendices detailing supplementary data and analysis.

Assessing The Construct Validity Of The Mpact-6: Research Brief, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Amber Krushas, Zachary Hamilton, X. Mei

Reports

As needs assessments are comprised of subscales that include non-observable, latent constructs, the comprehensive assessment of these items and scales is essential. Specifically, to ensure these tools are measuring offender needs as intended, their construct validity must be confirmed. The current project used a multi-level, multi-group analysis of the MPACT with a large, 10-state sample of youth. Building on previous work (see Mei et al., 2022), authors confirmed the dimensionality and reliability of the six MPACT needs domains. Beyond this, the reliability and validity of the ‘Global Needs Factor’ was also confirmed. Here, the ‘Global Needs Factor’ or ‘G-Factor’ represents …

Louisiana Children's Trust Fund Annual Report 2021-2022, Elizabeth Winchester, Jada Thomas-Smith, Harleen Sandhu, Aimee H. Moles, Judith L. F. Rhodes

Reports

Child abuse and neglect is a leading factor in the staggeringly high rates of child mortality in Louisiana. In 2017, Louisiana had 44,793 total referrals for child abuse and neglect of which 19,851 were investigated (CWLA, 2019). Child abuse and neglect can have multiple detrimental effects on a child’s physical, psychological, and behavioral health. Effective prevention efforts are critical to ensuring the immediate and long-term safety and well-being of children in Louisiana. Each year, LCTF selects high-quality proposals and funds a range of prevention efforts to protect children, strengthen family well-being, and educate the public about children’s safety. Local, national, …

What Is Working To Reduce Violent Crime? Evidence-Based Solutions, Elizabeth Winchester, Timothy T. Reling, Kristina Little, Leanna Cupit, Melanie Fields, Judith F. Rhodes

Reports

The purpose of this review is to examine and evaluate current approaches to reducing violent crime. The review reports on supportive techniques, strategies, programs, and practices that are evidence-informed to combat criminal activity, delinquency, and community disorder. Ineffective techniques, strategies, and programs are also included. The review provides potential strategies and programs that require additional empirical research to show whether they work. This review includes the integration of education, employment, social services, and public health services into efforts to reduce crime and ease the burden on law enforcement and justice systems. Recommendations for reducing violent crime are included.

Family Support Evaluation Fy 2017-2021, Julie D. Garman, Anne M. Hobbs, Erin Wasserburger, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

Evidence-Based Nebraska.

Family Support programs are prevention-focused efforts that seek to improve upon family function and communication through referrals and interactions with youth and families in Nebraska. Youth and families are referred for various reasons and community-based programs respond to these youth and family needs in a variety of ways, depending upon their individual needs and involve organizations throughout the community as needed. Through interviews with Family Support staff and directors, we learned that programs take different approaches to providing services to youth and families that are individualized to address emergent issues. Youth and families are commonly referred to the …

School Absenteeism Guidebook For Program Development And Cultural Components, Julie D. Garman, Anne M. Hobbs, Sarah A. Steele, Erin Wasserburger, Marijana Kotlaja, Aaron Lockee, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

Programs across Nebraska have been working to reduce chronic absences and excessive absenteeism through targeted intervention and prevention strategies. This Guidebook is intended to assist communities in developing prevention and intervention strategies that fully address school absenteeism. In addition to outlining evidence-based responses to school absence, we looked specifically for programs that include a cultural competence component, or that have shown prior success in working with specific populations most at risk for excessive absenteeism. First, we present an overview of the risk factors for excessive absenteeism and potential negative outcomes associated with increased absences from school. In the second part …

Perceptions Of Youth Of Juvenile Diversion, Lindsey Wylie, Erin Wasserburger, Anne M. Hobbs, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

Evidence-Based Practices Brief #6

The juvenile justice system was established under the belief that children who misbehave should be rehabilitated, but not subject to adult punishment. During the 1980s and 1990s, attitudes toward juveniles became more punitive and practices moved toward formally processing youth into the system;1 however, research demonstrates that youth who are formally processed may have worse outcomes than youth who are not formally processed.2 Juvenile diversion is one approach offered to reduce potential unintended consequences of juvenile court.3 The concept of diversion is based on Labeling Theory, which asserts that processing low-level youth through the system may …

School Interventionists Fy 2015-2020, Lindsey Wylie, Erin Wasserburger, Anne M. Hobbs, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

School Interventionists identify and coordinate behavioral or academic intervention for a student. Youth can be referred to the School Interventionist for attendance issues, poor grades, lack of engagement, and/or behavior issues. The intervention process includes clearly identifying the problem, selecting a strategy to address the problem, and measuring the effectiveness of the strategy. The intervention can include other supports for the youth within the school or community. In interviewing School Interventionists, they are often responsible for addressing a range of school and home issues, and often use a range of activities to do so. These activities fall within three identified …

Crisis Response Programs Fy 2015-2020, Lindsey Wylie, Anne M. Hobbs, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

There are a significant proportion of youth with mental and behavioral health issues, often undiagnosed or untreated, that may contribute to problems at school, home, and within the community. Families and others may not know how to best handle the crisis and often turn to law enforcement or emergency departments to assist; however, this can lead to unintended negative outcomes for youth. To best address crises, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states that communities should have a well-developed continuum of crisis services. Crisis services are “no-wrong-door” safety net services that are available for “anyone, anywhere and …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Community-Based Juvenile Service Aid Programs, Erin Wasserburger, Anne M. Hobbs, Julie D. Garman

Reports

The Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Division (CBA) is a program funded by the Nebraska legislature and housed within the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (NCC). The guiding statute requires that funds be used for programs and services that divert youth from the juvenile justice system. The overarching aim is to effectively intervene with youth while they are in the community, and thereby reduce youth going to court or being placed in juvenile detention. To assess the efficacy of the interventions, the legislature allocated 10% of the fund for the development of a common data set and an …

Douglas County Youth Impact! Cost/Benefit Analysis Revised Edition: 2019 Dollars, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

The Nebraska Center for Justice Research at the University of Nebraska-Omaha conducted an evaluation of Youth Impact! which was completed in 2014. Youth Impact! is the Douglas County implementation of the Crossover Youth Practice Model, as developed by Georgetown University’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform. This project consisted primarily of: 1) a process evaluation, 2) an outcome evaluation, 3) a systems-impact analysis, and 4) a cost-benefit analysis. This evaluation suggested that the reduction in information silos across the juvenile justice and child welfare systems led to better decision-making because of interagency collaboration and information sharing, although agency professionals still faced …

Annual Report 2020, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

T  he Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) was established in 2014 with a mission to develop and sustain criminal justice research capacity internal to the State of Nebraska. Our goal is to assist the Legislature, justice agencies, practitioners, foundations, and stakeholders with research and evaluation to reduce recidivism, promote the use of evidence-based practices, and improve public safety. This annual report summarizes the activities and financial status of NCJR in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. In this past year, NCJR once again crafted our Adult Justice in Nebraska report to provide a foundation of data trends in areas such as …

Staying Ahead Of Substance Abuse: The Changing Landscape Of Marijuana Use, Jennifer Smith, Pamela Ashley, Jeanette Harder

Reports

In their comprehensive report, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) (2017) concludes that the United States is in a pivotal time in the world of cannabis policy and research one in which “Shifting public sentiment, conflicting and impeded scientific research, and legislative battles have fueled the debate about what, if any, harms or benefits can be attributed to the use of cannabis or its derivatives” (p. 2).

Recruiting And Retaining Higher Risk Youth In Promotion And Prevention Programs Fy 2018-2019, Marijana Kotlaja, Chelsea W. Harris, Erin Wasserburger, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

Evidence-based practices for reducing youth involvement in the criminal justice system have gained a considerable amount of attention over the past few decades. One such practice is delinquency prevention and promotion (PP) programs, which aim to promote positive behaviors and prevent negative behaviors. Research has demonstrated that PP programs can target risk factors at different stages of development thought to contribute to antisocial behavior, reducing the likelihood of criminal justice involvement (Pardini, 2016). Once a program is in place, however, recruiting the youth most likely to benefit from the program and retaining those youth can be a significant challenge. Specifically, …

Annual Report 2019, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

The Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) was established in 2014 with a mission to develop and sustain criminal justice research capacity internal to the State of Nebraska. Our goal is to assist the Legislature, justice agencies, practitioners, foundations, and stakeholders with research and evaluation to reduce recidivism, promote the use of evidence-based practices, and improve public safety. This annual report summarizes the activities and financial status of NCJR in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. In this past year, NCJR once again crafted our Adult Justice in Nebraska report to provide a foundation of data trends in areas such as law …

Annual Report Fy 15-16: Released August 2017, Lindsey Wylie, Erin Wasserburger, Sage Jensen, Victoria Ann Kaspar, Anne M. Hobbs, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

During this first fiscal year of the evaluation process (FY 2015-2016), the Juvenile Justice Institute (JJI) worked with the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Information Science and Technology (IS&T) and the Nebraska Crime Commission to develop and build the Juvenile Case Management System (JCMS). The JCMS is a secure data collection system that programs funded by CBA use to complete quarterly reporting requirements, which includes entering data for each youth who participates in the CBA-funded program. Each screen within JCMS was developed to specifically capture outcomes relevant to each program type (e.g., diversion, truancy, mentoring).

Preventing Delinquency & Promoting Prosocial Activities, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

Evidence-Based Practices Brief #2.

Recognizing the need to support youth before problem behaviors take shape, prevention programs emerged in the 1970s to address the needs of youth and families; however, these early programs were rarely rooted in either theory or research on childhood development. Consequently, programs began incorporating information gleaned from longitudinal studies to address specific risk factors identified as predictive of problem behaviors in youth. In the 1980s, prevention efforts often focused on a single problem behavior, however in the early 1990s, consensus emerged that programs should expand beyond focusing on a single problem behavior and instead examine co-occurrence …

Nebraska Truancy And Absenteeism Programs 2015 To 2016, Marijana Kotlaja, Lindsey Wylie, Anne M. Hobbs, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

There are a wide variety of programs that address truancy and absenteeism across the state of Nebraska. This report is the first opportunity that we have had to quantify whether or not truancy interventions effectively encourage youth to improve school attendance. In the beginning of this report, we present three example program models that differ in the approach and interventions for addressing absenteeism. In the second part of this report, we present data on the youth served and the effectiveness of the truancy interventions across Nebraska. The Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program fund specifically outlines funding particular activities, including truancy …

Alternatives To Detention– Theory Of Change Convening, Paige M. Dempsey, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

Purpose of this work, from Erin Bock, Sherwood Foundation: Our community has come a long way over the last year in strategically partnering to reform the Juvenile Justice system in Douglas County. The strengthened relationships across the system are now enabling us to ask more assertive questions and gather catalytic evidence towards change. We are also in a position to foster mutual accountability for that change. It’s up to all of us! In that light, the OYS/JDAI Data Committee has commissioned an evaluation of the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) in Douglas County and will partner with Dr. Ryan Spohn in …

Alternatives To Detention Theory Of Change Report, Paige M. Dempsey

Reports

Our community has come a long way over the last year in strategically partnering to reform the Juvenile Justice system in Douglas County. The strengthened relationships across the system are now enabling us to ask more assertive questions and gather catalytic evidence towards change. We are also in a position to foster mutual accountability for that change. It’s up to all of us!

In that light, the OYS/JDAI Data Committee has commissioned an evaluation of the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) in Douglas County and will partner with Dr. Ryan Spohn in the implementation of that process. This evaluation is meant …

Douglas County Youth Impact Challenges Evaluation Report, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

Douglas County Youth Impact! is a practice model designed to prevent “crossover” youth from moving further into the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. The target population for this initiative is youth that meet the following criteria: 1) the youth must have been referred to the County Attorney’s office for: a) a status offense, or b) a law violation; and 2) the youth has a child welfare case which is: a) open, b) closed within the last 12 months, c) voluntary, or d) court-involved.

Operation Youth Success: Developmental Evaluation Final Report, Jennifer Miller, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

In the summer of 2014, a subset of leaders and stakeholders in Douglas County initiated a collective impact project to reform the county’s juvenile justice system. Since the first meeting of that group, a number of additional stakeholders have been incorporated into this initiative, which is now known as “Operation Youth Success.” Operation Youth Success, or OYS, has been engaged since that time in an effort to create system change producing a more effective, efficient, and compassionate justice system that better serves the families and youth who are the users of this system. This report will review the activities and …

Operation Youth Success (Douglas County Collective Impact) Developmental Evaluation Report, Jennifer L. Miller, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

In the summer of 2014, a subset of leaders and stakeholders in Douglas County initiated a collective impact project to reform the county’s juvenile justice system. Since the first meeting of that group, a number of additional stakeholders have been incorporated into this initiative, which is now known as “Operation Youth Success.” Operation Youth Success, or OYS, has been engaged since that time in an effort to create system change producing a more effective, efficient, and compassionate justice system that better serves the families and youth who are the users of this system. This report will review the activities and …

Ncjr Annual Report: 2016, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

The Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) was established in 2014 with a mission to develop and sustain criminal justice research capacity internal to the State of Nebraska. Our goal is to assist the Legislature, justice agencies, practitioners, foundations, and stakeholders with research and evaluation to reduce recidivism, promote the use of evidence-based practices, and improve public safety. This annual report summarizes the activities and financial status of NCJR in its second year.

Douglas County Youth Impact Successes Evaluation Report, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

Douglas County Youth Impact! is a practice model designed to prevent “crossover” youth from moving further into the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. The target population for this initiative is youth that meet the following criteria: 1) the youth must have been referred to the County Attorney’s office for: a) a status offense, or b) a law violation; and 2) the youth has a child welfare case which is: a) open, b) closed within the last 12 months, c) voluntary, or d) court-involved.

Annual Report 2016, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

The Nebraska Center for Justice Research (NCJR) was established in 2014 with a mission to develop and sustain criminal justice research capacity internal to the State of Nebraska. Our goal is to assist the Legislature, justice agencies, practitioners, foundations, and stakeholders with research and evaluation to reduce recidivism, promote the use of evidence-based practices, and improve public safety. This annual report summarizes the activities and financial status of NCJR in its second year. Our research products built upon the reports we produced last year. For example, we crafted our Adult Justice in Nebraska report to provide a foundation of data …

Youth Impact! Of Douglas County: Views Of Success From The Professionals Involved, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

Douglas County Youth Impact! is a practice model designed to prevent “crossover” youth from moving further into the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. The target population for this initiative is youth that meet the following criteria: 1) the youth must have been referred to the County Attorney’s office for: a) a status offense, or b) a law violation; and 2) the youth has a child welfare case which is: a) open, b) closed within the last 12 months, c) voluntary, or d) court-involved.

Youth Impact! Of Douglas County: Views Of Challenges From The Professionals Involved, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Emily Wright, Ryan E. Spohn

Reports

Douglas County Youth Impact! is a practice model designed to prevent “crossover” youth from moving further into the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. The target population for this initiative is youth that meet the following criteria: 1) the youth must have been referred to the County Attorney’s office for: a) a status offense, or b) a law violation; and 2) the youth has a child welfare case which is: a) open, b) closed within the last 12 months, c) voluntary, or d) court-involved.

Nebraska Juvenile Diversion Programs 2012 To 2015, Lindsey Wylie, Anne M. Hobbs, Juvenile Justice Institute, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

In Nebraska, approximately 4,000 youth are referred to a juvenile diversion program annually. From 2012 to 2015, the majority of cases (87.0%) referred to juvenile diversion programs involved a law violation. Data from juvenile diversion programs indicates that Black youth are referred to diversion at twice the rate at which they appear in the population, whereas Asian and Native American youth are under-represented in juvenile diversion. Ideally we would examine how this compares to juveniles stopped by law enforcement for law violations, but this data is not consistently available in Nebraska. Without access to law enforcement stops, the underlying reasons …