Criminal justice institutions and social service agencies across the country are recognizing the unique criminal profile of female juvenile offenders. In response,there has been a widespread movement by each state and even certain localities to formulate Gender-Specific Assessment and Programming Guidelines. The programming formulated for female delinquents is essentially rehabilitative, aiming to undo the trauma of abusive, neglectful, or disadvantaged childhoods.
Criminal Justice System Juvenile Delinquency
Identify three components of the diversionary program and initiatives within the NCJRS website Woman & Girls in the Criminal Justice System.
Gender-Specific Assessment of Offender's Needs, Strengths, and Risk Factors in conjunction with Gender-Specific Programming
A Focus on Personal Transformation and Rehabilitation through Continuous Exposure to Positive Role Models (Probation Officers, Case Workers)
Systematic Training to Implement Uniform Assessment and Programming Practices Across Multiple Criminal Justice and Social Service Agencies.
2.Compare and contrast state and local programs as they contribute to successful reintegration and transition services.
State Programs
State institutions, due to the state's exclusive authority for most criminal offenses in the state, usually encounter juvenile offenders only after they have reached the sentencing stage. Although criminal justice institutions theoretically exist to punish criminal offenders for the sake of public safety, incapacitation is often seems premature for most juvenile offenders. Criminal Justice Institutions such as the Department of Juvenile Justice in Maryland have recognized that traditional programming options, which consisted of either short-term or long-term commitment to residential group homes, were more likely to promote than prevent recidivism because the offenders were often being placed in an unhealthy environment. These experiences only reinforced the bad habits of juvenile offenders, trapping them in an environment that they could not see past.
The Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice formed a task force to assess the programming needs of adjudicated female juvenile offenders. The task force formed what they called a Female Intervention Team composed of 13 juvenile counselors/case managers and 1 juvenile supervisor in order to help rehabilitate the female juvenile offender while she was serving out her sentence or sanction. (Juvenile Justice Journal, 1999, p. 15).
The Female Intervention Team counselors, hailing from a variety of backgrounds, were each assigned an all-female caseload. They managed the cases of female juvenile offenders, supervised probation, and organized monthly group activities. One benefit of this approach is that the girls, many of whom were physically or sexually abused by adults at some point in their lives, learned that men and women have healthy relationships which did not involve sex, violence, or drugs. (Juvenile Justice Journal, 1999, p. 16).
Local Programs
Local governmental bodies, such as counties and cities, do not have as much authority in matters of criminal law besides law enforcement. Thus, local governments usually deliver juvenile justice programs through social service agencies and other youth-facing institutions. Their value is in their counseling capabilities as fellow members of the community who are familiar with the larger familial, financial, and behavioral challenges facing juvenile female offenders.
For example, Cook County, IL, has built a network of support for juvenile female offenders within the local community. The county has developed its own gender-specific assessment and treatment guidelines and has trained youth-facing community workers on assessing juvenile offenders and recommending programming. (Juvenile Justice Journal, 1999, p. 30). Also, the county designed a pilot network of social service agencies in order to provide a community-based continuum of care. (Juvenile Justice Journal, 1999, p. 30). This continuum of care helps to prevent at risk youth from slipping through the cracks.
Cook County's program was so successful that the State of Connecticut adopted a similar network of institutions practicing a uniform assessment method. Whereas Cook County agencies used the assessments to select programming choices for at-risk youth, Connecticut criminal justice institutions used the assessments to issue alternative sanctions tailored to the juvenile offender's particular risks, needs, and strengths. (Juvenile Justice Journal, 1999, p. 30).
3.Analyze trends and patterns of these programs as they contribute to reduced recidivism.
It is telling that states and various local governments, which possess different powers, responsibilities, and capabilities, have all converged on a rehabilitative, diversionary approach to female juvenile programming. Each institution came to the realization that most female juvenile offenders committed criminal acts for somewhat different reasons than male juvenile offenders. For females, criminal behavior was not rooted in pride or greed, but rather, grief. It was grief resulting from a very unhealthy childhood experience marked by sexual or physical abuse. These offenders did not know that they could interact with other people in a manner which did not involve sex or violence. Thus, the gender-specific assessments sought to identify grief-stricken offenders and suggested programming designed to acculturate them to more healthy, platonic, and peaceful interpersonal relations.
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