APRI Highlights - Spring 2004

Update on the Juvenile Justice Performance Measures Project

Caren Harp, Director, National Juvenile Justice Prosecution Center

APRI launched its juvenile justice performance measures project with its first training event in late October 2003. Since then, the four demonstration sites (Allegheny County, PA; Cook County, IL; Deschutes County, OR; and the State of South Carolina) have received software and instructions for the data collection process. Data collection is underway and draft report cards are expected in late summer. Drawing on their prior experience with performance measures and report cards, Deschutes and Allegheny Counties are assisting Cook County and the State of South Carolina with implementation.

The second project training occurred February 10-12, 2004, at NDAA’s National Advocacy Center in Columbia, SC. Because South Carolina is the only demonstration site to implement the performance measures statewide, the project has sparked a great deal of interest within the state. The governor, numerous state legislators, a state supreme court justice, several victim advocacy groups, numerous solicitors and other dignitaries attended the training to hear a report from the team of practitioners charged with implementing the performance measures in South Carolina. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Cheri Nolan offered welcoming remarks and noted the importance of this project as a model for the nation.

The performance measures project will be highlighted in a plenary session at the 31st National Conference on Juvenile Justice this year in Las Vegas. Dennis Maloney of the Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) Project and representatives from the demonstration sites will explain the performance measures and detail their experiences with implementing the report cards.

For more information, contact APRI’s National Juvenile Justice Prosecution Center at juvenilejustice@ndaa-apri.org or (703) 549-4253.