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| Continuum
of Care |
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| The
Juvenile Justice Commission provides a continuum
of care for juveniles placed under its supervision
including residential
community homes, day
programs, secure
care facilities and parole
services. Together with State law and
judicial decisions, the specific needs and
history of each juvenile determine his or
her placement in this continuum. |
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| Secure
Care |
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| The
Commission operates four facilities identified
as secure. Secure facilities are full care
institutions providing all services on the
grounds of the facility, including education,
vocational programming, counseling and medical
services. Correctional Officers are employed
at these facilities to maintain a secure
setting. All facilities provide year round
education focused toward the attainment
of a high school diploma, GED or college
credit, as well as vocational programming.
Religious opportunities, group and individual
counseling, drug and alcohol treatment,
physical education, family life and health
education, and post-release planning are
also provided at all secure facilities. |
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 Secure
Facilities List |
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| Community
Programs |
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| Residential
Community Homes |
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| Located
throughout the State of New Jersey, Residential
Community Homes serve youth who have been
placed in the custody of the Juvenile Justice
Commission or placed on probation by the
courts. These programs are designed to provide
a less restrictive setting for youth who
do not require a secure setting and demonstrate
the ability to accept additional responsibility.
If a youth sentenced to the Commission does
not perform well in this setting, the Commission's
classification committee can reassign him
or her to another appropriate facility depending
on the youth's needs. Juveniles placed in
Residential Community Homes participate
in organized programming outside of the
facility, including community service projects,
and educational and vocational training. |
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| Residential
Community Homes List |
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| Day
Programs |
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| Day
Programs serve juveniles placed on probation
by the courts. They are a useful sentencing
option for judges who determine that a juvenile
needs structure and supervision, but does
not need to be removed from his or her home.
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| While
in the care of the Commission, juveniles
receive educational programming, vocational
training, counseling and perform community
service projects. |
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| Because
of the nature of a day program, these facilities
serve only those residents from the immediate
area of the facility. Day programs also
act as placement sites for juveniles who
have completed a JJC Residential Program
and require assistance in their transition
back to their communities. |
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| Day
Programs List |
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New
Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission
Juvenile Gang Intervention and Prevention
Project |
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| The
New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC)
understands that gangs and gang related
activities impact every community in our
State. The JJC has responded with a comprehensive
program that addresses youth gangs at all
levels. With funding from the NJ Department
of Education, the JJC has developed a cutting-edge
education curriculum, entitled Phoenix,
that corresponds with the NJ Core curriculum
standards. This course can be tailored for
youth in secure detention and JJC residential
and day programs, as well as county-operated
detention centers and community-based programs.
The workbook- based lessons provide structure
and support, and clearly identify the progress
of participants. The most important goal
of the curriculum is developing self-efficacy
skills, thereby allowing juveniles to understand
how to react to risky situations, and to
think through their actions and responses
to avoid future gang involvement. |
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| To
expands its reach, the JJC is forming partnerships
with communities to train others in the
Phoenix curriculum. The JJC is also coordinating
with the local office of probation as well
as the police department and is working
to build a 'safety net' of resources for
youth in the community. |
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| Experienced
JJC staff are also available to conduct
workshops. One- day training sessions can
be adapted to meet an audience's specific
needs and information level. It can also
be expanded to provide more in-depth training.
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| Special
Needs Services |
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| Mental
Health |
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| As
the number of juveniles in the juvenile
justice system nationwide identified as
seriously emotionally disturbed increases,
the JJC has responded. The JJC has three
programs for residents with these disorders,
one at each custody level. The Fresh Start
Community Home is specifically designed
for the treatment of 28 male juveniles with
serious emotional disorders and special
needs. A 24-bed program for juveniles with
serious mental health problems necessitating
secure treatment operates on the grounds
of the New Jersey Training School. The JJC
recently opened an eight-bed unit at its
most secure facility, JMSF, for the most
severely behaviorally disturbed youth. This
unit provides for individual and small group
treatment. The new unit completes a continuum
of care for residents who come into the
JJC who are seriously emotionally disturbed.
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| Juvenile
Sex Offenders |
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Sex offense-specific treatment is provided
to males and females in all secure facilities.
JJC operates the Pinelands Residential Community
Home, a residential treatment facility for
18 males between the ages of 14-18 with
a history of sex offenses. |
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| Substance
Abuse |
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| The
JJC has implemented a comprehensive system
of substance abuse assessment for juveniles
sentenced to its custody. |
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| In
addition to a secure substance abuse treatment
unit located on the grounds of the New Jersey
Training School serving 52 males, the JJC
has two residential community homes that
serve male juvenile substance abusers, Campus
RCH and Ocean RCH. |
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| The
JJC operates a residential program designed
specifically to treat female substance abusers.
The DOVES Residential Community Home (Developing
Opportunities and Values through Education
and Substance Abuse Treatment) is a female
residential program. It serves up to 24
juvenile females and contains two beds for
females who have relapsed and require additional
services. |
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| At
the Juvenile Reception and Assessment Center
(JRAC), the JJC has put in place a preparation
for treatment program, designed to assist
juveniles prior to being assigned to one
of the JJC’s residential or secure
programs. Juveniles returning the JJC as
parole violators also have access to a relapse
intervention component to help get them
back on track. |
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| The
JJC’s Substance Abuse Unit is also
responsible for substance abuse testing
and oversight at several Division of Addiction
Services programs that serve JJC youth. |
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| The
JJC’s Substance Abuse Unit is also
responsible for substance abuse testing
and oversight at several Division of Addiction
Services programs that serve JJC youth. |
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| The
JJC’s Substance Abuse Unit is also
responsible for substance abuse testing
and oversight at several Division of Addiction
Services programs that serve JJC youth. |
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| Treatment
Enhancement |
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| The
Commission is continually identifying ways
to enhance programming efforts to achieve
better outcomes, most vitally, to achieve
greater reductions in offender recidivism
(e.g., re-arrests; adjudications/convictions
on new charges after release). The Commission
has sought out and identified research based
treatment interventions and strategies that
address the risk factors associated with
delinquency. The Commission is implementing
these interventions in a small number of
community residential programs. The
hope is that these "pilot programs"
can serve as laboratories for change. If
the Commission can demonstrate, through
systematic evaluation that these new interventions
lead to better outcomes than its traditional
approaches, the new interventions will be
introduced in other settings. |
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| Among
the initiatives already implemented or planned
are: the incorporation of Aggression Replacement
Training (ART) which teaches youth how to
deal with problematic situations; the use
of a structured risk and needs assessment
instrument known as Youth Level of Service/Case
Management Inventory which helps the Commission
better serve the individual needs of each
youth; incorporation of a cognitive behavioral
curriculum known as New Freedoms in specialized
substance abuse programs which assists youth
in remaining drug free after release; the
incorporation of a family intervention/parent
training component to help address family-related
problems that place youth at greater risk
of continued offending; and the extensive
training of staff to implement these new
initiatives. |
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| Community
Collaboration |
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| When
juveniles are released from the custody
of the Commission, they continue to be monitored
by JJC
Parole staff. As part of the Commission's
ongoing efforts to continue to reduce recidivism,
the Commission encourages young people to
develop ties to their community. |
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| Mentors
and Community Team members are drawn from
the neighborhoods and communities where
the youth reside, creating valuable bridges
to resources as well as a sense of citizen
ownership for the prevention of criminal
activity in their neighborhoods. All mentors
receive training and support from the Commission's
Juvenile Parole and Transitional Servies
Offices and work closely with parole officers
and social workers. The Commission hopes
to expand its links to faith- based organizations
and increase its volunteer community mentoring
efforts. |
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| Research
and Evaluation |
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| Consistent
with its mandate to protect public safety,
the Commission has expanded its capacity
to evaluate the performance and outcomes
of its facilities, programs and contracts
through its Research and Evaluation Unit.
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| The
"bottom line" outcome for any
correctional agency is to reduce offender
recidivism. Consequently, a major component
of the Commission's current research and
evaluation effort is to systematically examine
recidivism rates of Commission youth. In
addition to its focus on recidivism, the
Commission is examining program outcomes
related to personal growth (e.g., reduction
of antisocial attitudes, improvements in
anger control) that are conducive to more
productive and law-biding adult lives. |
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| The
Commission utilizes this information to
make informed policy decisions regarding
the most efficient use of its resources.
In addition, results of the research serve
as much needed feedback for program administrators
allowing them to facilitate program refinements
where the need is indicated. The focus on
outcomes includes a recent initiative to
examine the performance of contracted services,
as a way to make informed decisions with
regard to contract continuation. The findings
of one recent recidivism analysis resulted
in a redirection of contract services and
dollars toward those types of offenders
for whom outcomes were most positive. |
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