Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative
What is the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative?
The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a detention reform and juvenile justice system improvement initiative that has demonstrated over 20 years, in urban and rural jurisdictions, that moving low-risk youth from secure detention into community-based alternative programs is excellent public policy. JDAI has established outstanding public safety outcomes, minimized detention over-crowding and the need to build more expensive facilities creating savings for taxpayers, improved efficiencies in the juvenile justice system operations, and produced better outcomes for youth and their families.
JDAI is a comprehensive initiative of eight strategies involving system-wide change in philosophy, practice and policy. Marion County (Indianapolis) Indiana originally became a JDAI local expansion site in 2006 with funding support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and local community funds. Since that time, the county has enacted a number of system-reform efforts which have reduced the detention population by nearly 50% while also maintaining public safety. Since October 2009, Indiana has embarked upon a statewide expansion of the Annie E. Casey Foundation Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) model program.
For more information on the Annie E. Casey Foundation JDAI program, visit: http://www.aecf.org/MajorInitiatives/JuvenileDetentionAlternativesInitiative.aspx
Indiana Counties Currently Participating in JDAI
* Eight Indiana JDAI Counties represtent 34% of Indiana's at-risk youth population (ages 10-17).
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