Through education, community-building and leadership development, The National Juvenile Justice Network enhances the capacity of juvenile justice coalitions and organizations in 33 states to press for state and federal laws, policies and practices that are fair, equitable and developmentally appropriate for all children, youth and families involved in, or at risk of becoming involved in, the justice system
We provide strategic and substantive assistance in six areas:
COMMUNITY – Through an active listserv, annual forum for members, partners and allies, and varied working groups, we provide vehicles for members to share and grow their collective wisdom around strategy, research, and the latest developments in their states.
LEADERSHIP – We provide information and training on substance and strategy, and our new Youth Justice Leadership Institute seeks to increase the number of juvenile justice reform leaders who are people of color, families of system involved youth, and system involved youth.
STANDARDS – NJJN circulates policy recommendations and summaries of established standards on which to build reform. Our Human Rights Working Group uses international standards to educate the public and push domestic policy changes.
INFORMATION – In addition to this, our bimonthly E-newsletter and policy papers advance the field of juvenile justice reform by educating the public and reform advocates.
TOOLS – Through teleconferences, talking points and press release templates, we keep reformers equipped with up-to-date information and strategic know-how.
INCLUSION – We involve youth, families and crime victims through our Family Engagement Working Group and the Victim Outreach Working Group.
NJJN STATEMENT OF INTENT ON DISPROPORTIONATE MINORITY CONTACT (DMC)
The National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) and its state-based organizational members are collectively committed to realizing the goal of a fair and just juvenile justice system.
NJJN believes that significant racial disparities pervade the juvenile justice system and essentially lie at the heart of many of the justice system’s problems. At each stage in the justice system, youth of color are treated more harshly than their white counterparts. In order to achieve our goal, NJJN, in all of its work, seeks to promote policies and practices that reduce racial and ethnic disparities, whether or not that is an explicit goal of those policies. Reform initiatives should have a positive effect on reducing disparities, and should at worst be neutral in their impact on racial and ethnic disparities.