APRI Highlights - Summer 2001

National Juvenile Justice Prosecution Center

Caren Harp, Director

Last year, as the juvenile court system celebrated its centennial year and reflected on its past accomplishments, there emerged a renewed sense of urgency regarding at-risk youth and the future course of the juvenile justice system in addressing their needs. Prosecutors are now setting their sights on early identification of at-risk youth and early intervention and prevention programs. While prosecution of serious and violent juvenile offenders remains a central concern, strategies for handling special populations -- e.g., very young offenders, children with mental health problems and juvenile sex offenders -- are also at the core of the discussion.

Since 1984, APRI's National Juvenile Justice Prosecution Center (NJJPC) has met the training and technical assistance needs of juvenile prosecutors in all phases of their careers. Elevating the importance of the juvenile justice system and cultivating career juvenile prosecutors remain at the heart of the center's mission. To that end, training activities have included policy and program development, understanding juvenile issues and trial advocacy improvement.

Each year, the NJJPC offers several training events, including:

• "Jumpstart" courses for newly assigned juvenile prosecutors
• The prosecutor's track at the National Conference on Juvenile Justice
• Special issue workshops, e.g., a recent program on prosecuting serious and violent juvenile offenders

In the last three years alone, the NJJPC trained approximately 5400 prosecutors and other juvenile justice professionals from 348 different jurisdictions in 49 states and the District of Columbia.

In the coming months, the center will also present:

• A leadership summit,
• A special issue workshop on Balanced and Restorative Justice, and
• A special Jumpstart training for newly-elected officials.

The NJJPC is also planning a multidisciplinary problem-solving workshop and its first webcast on the APRI website. These events are tentatively scheduled for the fall.

Center staff is also preparing several publications, including the In Re newsletter, a monograph on community prosecution and juvenile justice, a handbook for prosecutors on school resource officers and new training curricula in the areas of disproportionate minority confinement, juvenile mental health issues and early intervention and prevention strategies.

For more information about APRI's National Juvenile Justice Prosecution Center, please contact juvenilejustice@ndaa-apri.org.