AC client New York Foundling on Juvenile Justice Reform

Tags : AC client Community Based Alternatives evidence-based practices innovative organizations innovative solutions Juvenile Justice Information Exchange New York Foundling

States Have Choices for Juvenile Justice Reform

By: Bill Baccaglini and Dr. Sylvia Rowlands, The New York Foundling

March 4, 2015

Article

State and local governments around the country are dealing with issues related to incarceration of juveniles. Several, including New York, are considering proposals that would end sentencing 16- and 17-year-olds as adults and expand alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders.

Wherever these issues are raised, opponents with their own special interests inevitably arise and launch into a steady and predictable drumbeat equating incarceration with public safety. Their message implies that the choice is incarceration or nothing — and that by reducing the number of juveniles who are locked up, we are going to endanger public safety. In fact, the issue is far more nuanced than that.

It’s not incarceration or nothing. In reality, it’s incarceration versus approaches that have already been proven to yield better results.

AC client New York Foundling at the forefront of Evidence Based Practices

Tags : AC client Community Based Alternatives evidence-based practices innovative organizations innovative solutions Juvenile Justice Information Exchange New York Foundling

“Evaluation Must Join Innovation When Using Evidence-Based Practices”

By: BILL BACCAGLINI AND SYLVIA ROWLANDS

OP-ED published by the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange 12/12/14

For those of us who have been at the forefront of the adoption of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for treating at-risk youth and families, the debate among professionals in this field has taken an interesting turn. With EBPs yielding excellent results in a variety of environments and across cultural settings, it now seems as if the composition of the model itself has become the focal point of debate.

Why not treat EBPs as a base, some argue, and adapt it to account for community, cultural or other population differences? “We know our population,” the argument seems to go, “and shouldn’t view EBPs as a one-size-fits-all solution.” While that argument sounds reasonable, it actually presents a number of issues and has the potential to undermine the credibility of the EBP movement through subjectivity, opacity and inconsistency.