# Recommendation

Primary 

Agency/Agencies 

Implicated

Primary 

Affinity Group

Programs/Practice vs. 

Policy focus

1

Institutionalize leadership roles for families by 

designating two council practitioner member 

spots for a young adult with lived experience and 

a parent/guardian/family member. (full 

continuum)

DOJ

Engaging 

Families and 

Youth with 

Lived Experience

Policy

2

Support and encourage juvenile justice systems 

to hire a permanent youth engagement 

coordinator, who will strengthen and support 

youth voice in the review, development, and 

implementation of youth justice policy and 

programming. (full continuum)

DOJ

Engaging 

Families and 

Youth with 

Lived Experience

Policy

3

Support local communities in identifying their 

own individual needs, and provide training and 

technical assistance to support implementation of 

prevention services that are responsive to these 

needs. (prevention)

Multiple

CrossGovernmental 

Collaboration 

Practice

Expand Opportunities for Investment in Developmentally-Appropriate, Culturally-Aligned, and Healing-Focused Prevention & Ear 

Build Opportunities at the Federal Level for Meaningful Engagement from Impacted Youth & Families
4

Work together to address individual and 

collective/historic trauma. Promote and ensure 

funding for community-based, culturally- and 

developmentally-informed, effective, affordable, 

and accessible trauma-responsive services for 

youth and families to keep them out of the justice 

system. (prevention & intervention-low)

Multiple Healthcare and 

Social Services Practice

5

Invest in prevention and early intervention by 

[re]directing funds towards community-based 

programs and services that address the root 

causes of delinquency, such as poverty, lack of 

education, workforce disengagement, mental 

health and substance use issues. (prevention & 

intervention-low)

DOJ, HHS, 

SAMHSA, DoEd, 

ONDCP, DOL, 

USDA, and others

Healthcare and 

Social Services - 

Alternative 

Youth 

Programs/Appro

aches

Policy

6

Support schools to provide more counselors, 

social workers, intervention specialists, free 

meals, extra-curriculars, and after-school 

activities for youth at risk of entering the justice 

system. (prevention, intervention-low, & 

intervention-med)

DoEd and others Schools Practice

Invest in, Elevate, and Research Culturally-Relevant Community-Based Services as Alternatives to Detention
7

Enhance the success of justice-involved youth in 

their communities and reduce out-of-home 

placements by improving access to 

comprehensive, culturally-competent, supportive 

services like family counseling, educational 

support, mental health and substance use support. 

Meet basic needs first, be trauma-informed 

(including historical trauma), and healingcentered. (intervention-low, intervention-med, & 

intervention-high)

SAMHSA, DoEd, 

ONDCP, USDA, 

HHS, HUD, DOJ 

and others

Healthcare and 

Social Services Practice

8

Create a grant program that provides financial 

incentives to communities that successfully keep 

children and youth out of detention/commitment 

and with their families in local communities 

where there are resources to address the root 

causes of delinquency. (The program would be 

similar to incentives that were provided to states 

when youth in the child welfare system were 

adopted.) (intervention-low, intervention-med, & 

intervention-high)

DOJ and others

Healthcare and 

Social Services - 

Alternative 

Youth 

Programs/Appro

aches

Policy
9

Assess common entry points for youth into 

secure detention and enhance support for 

programs and practices that prevent net-widening 

at these points of entry. (intervention-low, 

intervention-med, & intervention-high)

DOJ, DoEd, and 

others

CrossGovernmental 

Collaboration 

Policy

10

Make mental health treatment more readily 

available, accessible, and culturally-relevant to 

justice-involved youth, including approaches that 

integrate the arts and healing-centered practices. 

(intervention-low, intervention-med, interventionhigh, out-of-home placement, & community reintegration)

SAMHSA, DOJ 

and others

Healthcare and 

Social Services Practice

11

Address the co-occurence of substance use and 

MH/SMI issues and their relationship to youth 

behavior, well-being, and equity. (full 

continuum)

SAMHSA, 

ONDCP, DOJ

Heathcare and 

Social Services Practice

12

Encourage and approve state Workforce 

Innovation and Opportunity Act (WOIA) waiver 

requests (DOL) that incentivize local Workforce 

Investment Boards (WIBs) to serve justice 

system-involved youth in their youth programs. 

(community re-integration)

DOL Employment and 

Training Policy

Enhance Coordination of Mental Health and Substance Use Services Across the Continuum for Justice-Involved Y

Expand Re-entry Opportunities for Justice-Involved Youth
13

Improve access to access post-secondary 

education and training for youth exiting the 

justice system. (community re-integration)

DoEd, DOL, 

DOJ, AmeriCorps Schools Practice

14

Expand investments in training for judicial and 

law enforcement personnel in areas such as deescalation techniques, mental health awareness 

and alternative dispute resolution. (interventionlow, intervention-med, & intervention-high)

DOJ, SAMHSA

Law 

Enforcement and 

the Courts

Policy

15

Identify effective strategies for systems to share 

important youth records and data across systems, 

while also balancing privacy concerns. 

(intervention-low, intervention-med, interventionhigh, & out-of-home placement)

Multiple

CrossGovernmental 

Collaboration 

Policy

16

Ensure that judicial personnel have access to the 

latest research on effective interventions for 

reducing recidivism, promoting positive 

outcomes for youth, and the impacts of various 

sentencing options. (intervention-low, 

intervention-med, & intervention-high)

DOJ

Law 

Enforcement and 

the Courts

Practice

Build Knowledge and Capacity of the Workforce that Serves Justice-Involved Youth