HomeMy WebLinkAboutHawaii County Strategy for Juvenile Justice Fact Sheet Hawaii County Comprehensive Strategy for
Juvenile Justice
OVERVIEW
The Comprehensives Strategy is an Organized plan for communities to effectively deal
with juveniles who commit crime. This plan covers juveniles who exhibit problem
behavior, non-criminal behavior, delinquency, and serious, violent and chronic offenses.
Spanning the spectrum from prevention services for all youth to graduated sanctions for
the serious, violent and chronic offenders, the plan helps the community identify
resources and gaps in the system. Most important, the plan enables members of the
community from all sectors both private and public to share resources resulting in
greater availability of services for youth.
This plan is a data driven, research based, outcomes focused approach to juvenile
delinquency that coordinates prevention efforts with the juvenile justice system's
response to criminal behavior. This plan brings together both sides of the continuum
through a comprehensive strategic planning process that builds on and unifies the
efforts of all service and program providers and integrates the full spectrum of
prevention and juvenile justice efforts.
BRIEF HISTORY
The Big Island is the 52nd community in the nation to receive federal technical
assistance in creating such a plan. In May 2000, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney
convened a conference of nearly 100 individuals who identified visions, goals and
needed services. The success of this plan in part contributed to the more encompassing
strategic planning initiative presently underway.
CS PARTICIPANTS
The County of Hawaii, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney is the sponsoring agency for
this effort. The Mayor's Office, Department of Education, Department of Health,
Department of Research and Development and many other departments, agencies and
private businesses are involved in this effort.
WHAT WILL THE END RESULT BE?
A planning body recognized by local government will use the community-based systems
in place to collect and analyze data, prioritize risk factors and identify gaps in existing
resources. A structured decision making system for allocating resources used in
prevention and the juvenile justice system will be developed. But most important a five
year comprehensive strategy plan will officially be agreed upon with a full continuum of
effective services in place for youth, including prevention programs from prenatal
through adolescence, community alternatives to incarceration, appropriate confinement
programs and effective aftercare. As part of this process a formal evaluation mechanism
will also be in place.