This white paper reviews the literature exploring the relationship between family contact and short- and long term outcomes for youth in the juvenile justice system, and identifies ways that agencies from police through reentry staff can better engage families in ways that promote both personal contact and active involvement in case assessment, planning, and management
Preventing Suicide and Self-Harm in Jail
Not only does this study build the evidence base for the feasibility of sentinel event reviews in the justice system, but it also provides rich data on why the problem of jail suicide remains such an intractable systems issue in the United States and how some jurisdictions are trying to innovate their responses.
Youth, Safety, and Violence: Schools, Communities, and Mental Health
This policy brief was developed in the wake of the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut by Christine Leonard, Director of Vera’s Washington DC office, and Mary Crowley, Vera’s Director of Communications. It is designed to share the research-based perspectives and recommendations of Vera experts on some of the complex and challenging issues raised by this tragedy.
Building on Family Strengths for Better Outcomes: Involving more families, more often, for more youth
Juvenile justice agencies are increasingly aware of the benefits to partnering with families whose youth are in their care and custody. The research, albeit limited, is conclusive: youth who have more family support are more likely to succeed.
Closing the Gap: Using Criminal Justice and Public Health Data to Improve the Identification of Mental Illness
Researchers from Vera’s Substance Use and Mental Health Program created an unprecedented dataset including records from four Washington, DC criminal justice agencies and the Department of Mental Health to study the mental health needs of people arrested in the District of Columbia in June 2008.