APRI Highlights - Winter 2003

A Balanced Approach to Juvenile Justice

Caren Harp, Director, National Juvenile Justice Prosecution Center

The National Juvenile Justice Prosecution Center welcomed two new attorneys into its ranks at the end of the summer. Kevin Morrison, a former Assistant District Attorney from Tulsa, Oklahoma joined the unit as a senior attorney. Mr. Morrison handled child protection cases in the juvenile division of the Tulsa County District Attorney’s office and also served as a juvenile referee. Hope Fields joined the NJJPC as a staff attorney.

NJJPC's New Senior Attorney Kevin Morrison

Ms. Fields interned at the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office in Alexandria, VA, and recently passed the Virginia bar exam. Ms. Fields will split her time between the NJJPC and the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse.

The work of the NJJPC is guided by an advisory group of prosecutors from around the country, a number of whom are NDAA board members. The overlap and supportive interaction between the NJJPC advisory group and the NDAA juvenile justice committee is central to the work of the NJJPC. This year, the NDAA Board of Directors adopted revisions in the NDAA Resource Manual and Policy Positions on Juvenile Crime Issues. The revisions were recommended by the Juvenile Justice and Family Law Committee, chaired by Gary Walker and James Fox. The amended manual brings the individual policy positions into a comprehensive, overarching philosophy for juvenile justice. Drawing a distinction from the “best interest of the child” standard, the manual expressly states that balanced consideration of community protection, offender accountability and competency development in offenders is the preferred philosophical approach to juvenile justice.

The adoption of a comprehensive approach to juvenile justice brings clarity and direction to the work of the NJJPC. All of the various publications and training courses can now have a common thread: articulable principles that anchor the text and structure the curriculum. The NJJPC is extremely grateful for the hard work and dedication of its advisory group and the NDAA Juvenile Justice and Family Law Committee. Without their guidance and productivity, the NJJPC would not have the success or durability it currently enjoys.

In upcoming months, the NJJPC plans to produce a number of monographs and special topic short papers applying the guiding philosophy to pressing juvenile justice issues.

For more information, contact the NJJPC at (703) 549-4253 or juvenilejustice@ndaa-apri.org.