Community-Based Responses to Justice-Involved Young Adults

"In this new report by Executive Session members Vincent Schiraldi, Bruce Western, and Kendra Bradner, the authors note that the human brain has been clinically shown to not fully mature prior to the mid-20s and suggest new institutional methods and processes for young adult justice that can meet the realities of life for today's disadvantaged youth involved in crime and the criminal justice system.

They envision a system that extends the reach of the juvenile court to reflect a modern understanding of the transition into adulthood, and their primary recommendation is that the age of juvenile court jurisdiction be raised to 21, with additional, gradually diminishing protections for young adults up to age 24 or 25."

Community-based violence prevention: An assessment of Pittsburgh's One Vision One Life Program

In 2006, more than 6 million individuals were victimized by violent
crimes in the United States. Although violence is below levels of the
early 1990s, it remains high. The extent of violence and its impact highlight
a critical need to develop and implement effective programs to
reduce violence and victimization. Communities have initiated a wide
range of such programs, and scholars have conducted numerous evaluations
of varying quality of them. Reviews have found certain types of
strategies and specific programs to be promising, but additional critical
evaluations are needed to plan violence-reduction programs.

This monograph assesses the implementation and impact of
the One Vision One Life violence-prevention strategy in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. In 2003, Pittsburgh witnessed a 49-percent increase in
homicides, prompting a “grassroots” creation and implementation of
the One Vision One Life antiviolence strategy. This initiative used a
problem-solving, data-driven model, including street-level intelligence,
to intervene in escalating disputes, and seeks to place youth in appropriate
social programs. Analysis of the program, which is modeled on
similar efforts elsewhere, can help inform other efforts to address urban
violence.

Read on...

Just a warning. This is an electronic monograph from the Rand Corp. It is a big file. Tom