When youth become involved with the legal system, it adversely affects their chances of building productive lives. The Child Advocate has targeted several initiatives aimed at improving outcomes for youth involved with the juvenile justice system.

Sharp declines in the number of youth being held in county detention has led some centers to close units and redeploy resources to community services that can prevent youth from re-offending. The Child Advocate is encouraging counties to reinvest any savings reaped from a declining detention population into programs that can prevent juvenile crime and help youth successfully re-integrate into their communities.

Read the Child Advocate's report:

Reinvesting in New Jersey Youth: Building on Successful Juvenile Detention Reform, March 2009

The Child Advocate, in partnership with state Medicaid officials and juvenile justice stakeholders, launched a pilot program aimed at determining whether youth entering detention centers had health insurance. What we found was surprising. Nearly 70 percent had health insurance and many of those youth had private insurance. Yet most counties are not billing insurance companies for the cost of medical care while youth are detained. We're hopeful that counties will use this information to capture more dollars that can be reinvest to help at-risk youth. 

Read the Child Advocate Bulletin.

When youth leave secure confinement, it is critical that appropriate services, supports and education be provided to prevent them from re-offending. The Child Advocate is examining the juvenile re-entry procress, with the goal of identifying ways to strengthen youth's reintegration into their communities and to prevent future criminal offenses.  We anticipate releasing a report on this issue in the fall.