National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

The National Center for Juvenile Justice (the Center) is the independent research arm of the National Council of Family and Juvenile Court Judges. Previous grants enabled the Center to develop and launch the Juvenile Justice GPS (Geography, Policy/Practice and Statistics) website, which supports and stimulates the spread of reform by charting all 50 states’ performance and progress in key issue areas of importance to Models for Change. This final award enables the Center to continue to maintain and update the JJ-GPS website and adapt it to the needs of the field. By providing reformers, advocates, and policymakers with the means to understand the juvenile justice landscape as a whole and compare state juvenile justice systems, the project supports and facilitates the spread of reform.

The National Center for Juvenile Justice (the Center) is the independent research arm of the National Council of Family and Juvenile Court Judges. Since Models for Change began in 2003, the Center has served as the initiative's technical resource center, helping state and local jurisdictions to track and document juvenile justice systems reform progress and outcomes. Under a previous grant, the Center developed and launched the JJ-GPS (Juvenile Justice Geography, PolicylPractice, and Statistics) website to support and stimulate the spread of reform nationally by charting all 50 states' performance and progress in key issue areas of importance to Models for Change. This award enables the Center to continue to build out the JJ-GPS website and adapt it to the needs of the field, providing reformers, advocates, and policymakers with the means to understand the juvenile justice landscape nationally; compare state juvenile justice systems; and gauge the direction and pace of reforms and their impact.

The National Center for Juvenile Justice is the only independent research organization in the nation that focuses exclusively on juvenile justice issues, and has served as the Models for Change technical resource center since 2003, helping states and localities track and document systems reform progress and outcomes. NCJJ will continue to track data on Models for Change policy and practice innovations and outcomes in 16 states; collect and catalogue tools developed and produce innovation briefs on using data to drive decision-making; coordinate data for the initiative’s evaluation; and create a web-accessed database to track and monitor system reform efforts nationally.

The National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ), which is the research arm of the National Council of Family and Juvenile Court Judges, has served as the Models for Change technical resource center in assisting state and local jurisdictions with tracking and documenting systems reform progress and outcomes. This grant will enable NCJJ to: (1) update information on Models for Change policy and practice innovations and their outcomes; and (2) develop a new website portal that will enable national tracking and monitoring of system reform efforts.

To support technical assistance, assessment, and project coordination in support of Models for Change (over two years).