Project Targets Juvenile Justice Reforms

In this article, Chet Hewitt, 2014 Media for Just Society Awards judge, discusses the goals of the Positive Youth Justice Initiative (PYJI), an approach to juvenile justice built on four key elements: investing in youth, treating trauma, changing systems, and providing wraparound services.

In this article, Chet Hewitt, 2014 Media for Just Society Awards judge, discusses the goals of the Positive Youth Justice Initiative (PYJI), an approach to juvenile justice built on four key elements: investing in youth, treating trauma, changing systems, and providing wraparound services. ­The Center for Health Program Management — with financial support provided by the Sierra Health Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation, and The California Endowment —recently launched a $4.5 million investment in PYJI. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) will provide technical assistance and training to the four California county probation departments selected by the Sierra Health Foundation to partake in the initiative (Alameda, San Diego, San Joaquin, and Solano). NCCD conducts positive youth development trainings for probation officers and child welfare workers and provides technical assistance to probation departments to help transition their systems to focus on young people’s strengths and assets, rather than a traditional correctional-based focus on deficits.

Chett Hewitt is president and CEO of the Sierra Health Foundation and the Center for Health Program Management.