Join us on Tuesday, March 28th at 12PM EST as we welcome Molli Barker Cook, the Founder and Executive Director of the National Assessment Center Association (NAC) as she presents her talk titled “Prevention and Diversion Framework:  Connecting Youth and Families to Community, Not Systems”. She will be joined by a pair of her fellow NAC board members, Dorcas Young Griffin and Joshua Campbell. 

Have recommendations for future Lunch & Learn sessions? Click here to let us know what you'd like to learn more about! 

Adults in the Making (AIM) is an intervention program for African American youth who are experiencing life stressors. This intervention promotes family protective factors, coaching, advocacy, and racial socialization. The goal of this intervention is to enhance youths’ ability to self-regulate and anticipate the consequences of their actions to reduce substance abuse and increase their interest in education or a career. 

See our Evidence-Based Programs and Practices in Youth Justice Clearinghouse for more information on this and other ranked evidence-based practices.   

Technology is only as good as its design. Arada and Bell (2023) explored this in case studies with two young students of color in understanding how technology detects skin color.

Read it here. 

Arada, K., Sanchez, A., & Bell, P. (2023). Youth as pattern makers for racial justice: How speculative design pedagogy in science can promote restorative futures through radical care practices. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2022.2154158  

Screening and assessment instruments need to be properly calibrated for the populations for whom they are used. Jaggers and colleagues (2023) have conducted a study to see if the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument is valid for youth of color. 

Read it here. 

Jaggers, J. W., Modrowski, C. A., Kerig, P. K., Kilshaw, R. E., Cambron, C., & Allen, A. K. (2023). Latent Profiles of Responding on the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-2 Subscale Scores by Race/Ethnicity among Juvenile Justice-Involved Boys and Girls. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 15412040231153116. https://doi.org/10.1177/15412040231153116  

For youth with eating disorders, timely identification and quality treatment are critical for preventing malnutrition and other long term health concerns. Moreno and colleagues (2023) studied the difference in access to mental health treatment for youth of color being treated for disordered eating. 

Read it here. 

Moreno, R., Buckelew, S. M., Accurso, E. C., & Raymond-Flesch, M. (2023). Disparities in access to eating disorders treatment for publicly-insured youth and youth of color: A retrospective cohort study. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-022-00730-7   

Academia has an important role to play in increasing diversity in the field of criminology and criminal justice (CCJ). Wicks (2023) calls on CCJ programs to reflect on their curricula and more completely integrate diverse perspectives outside the current paradigm. 

Read it here. 

Wicks, N. (2023). Why Is My Criminology Curriculum Still so White? “Race” and Racism as “Blind Spots” in UK Criminology Teaching and Student Recommendations for the Future. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 0(0), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2022.2158205 

Check out the YJI's technical assistance request portal! The Institute generally works on a wide range of topics related to youth justice. We are best situated to provide support around training development, tool development, information gathering, subject matter expert identification, qualitative research strategies, data analysis and infrastructure support, and data visualization.

Check out the NIJ’s upcoming conference May 23-25 in Arlington, VA. The theme of this conference is “evidence to action” with the aim of bringing together researchers and practitioners to discuss the latest research evidence and how it can be incorporated into practice. You can register here; the conference is free and open to all! 

The United Against Crime-Community Action Network (U-CAN) is a support and accountability focused diversion program designed to provide justice-involved youth with the services and structure they need to successfully complete a year of interim probation. In U-CAN, select youth are offered a chance to avoid jail or prison but must comply with several requirements, including meeting with a volunteer mentor for an hour a week. U-CAN was created by Albany County Judge Andra Ackerman in 2017 and has expanded to several communities across the state. The program, which has a high success rate, operates at no expense to the court system or locality. It relies on volunteer mentors - men and women in the community - who devote an hour each week to help youth find their way. Read more about them here!