MA Department of Youth Services

As many as 100,000 youth younger than 18 years old are released from juvenile correctional facilities every year. These young people often return to their communities with complex needs, such as physical and behavioral health issues and barriers to education and employment. In FY 2015, OJJDP awarded planning grants to support states, local governments, and federally recognized Native American/Alaskan Native tribes and communities as they developed comprehensive juvenile community supervision strategic plans. Under this grant program, OJJDP selected FY 2015 grantees to receive awards to implement their strategic plans. This program is authorized pursuant to Section 101 of the Second Chance Act, Pub. L. No. 110-199.

The Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) will use grant funding to reduce revocation, increase length of stay in the community, and increase public safety through improving community supervision for youth at medium to high risk for reoffending in Suffolk County. In 2015, the average length of stay for Suffolk County youth was 74.29 days. DYS will implement initiatives to reduce recidivism by 50 percent, increase the average length of stay to 180 days for youth in the community, develop a data collection guidebook to standardize data collection and reporting procedures, and develop a targeted graduated response grid to address and reduce racial and ethnic disparities. The project goals will be realized through an integrated juvenile justice system response. Stakeholders in this project include the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, Juvenile Court, Probation Department, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership, and key provider agencies.

CA/NCF