New report on youth development and juvenile justice

The Coalition for Juvenile Justice has just released a new report titled Positive Youth Justice: Framing Justice Interventions Using the Concepts of Positive Youth Development that explores how juvenile justice systems can be enhanced by adopting a strong Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach when designing and implementing services.

From the press release: "While there’s no question justice-involved youth need basic supports and opportunities if they are to avoid further risky and delinquent behavior, the report authors suggest that a PYD framework is an essential key for re-focusing juvenile justice systems. PYD asks justice systems to focus on protective factors, such as the strengths an individual youth possesses and those inherent in his peer group, family and community, and urges juvenile service providers to embrace broader efforts that will facilitate successful transitions to adulthood."

It has a nice section on the role of "relationships" in PYD that explores how mentors fit into all of this.

Overall, this is a great read for anyone in the mentoring, juvenile justice, and youth development fields who is interested in how to make these systems more strength-based and focused on each youth's circumstances and assets.

More information at:

• http://juvjustice.org/announcement_150.html
• http://juvjustice.org/media/resources/public/resource_390.pdf