Reform of DCF Juvenile Services: Helping Children and Families Close to Home

This plan is based on the principle that children can be served most effectively through a continuum of services that are close to the homes and communities where Connecticut children and families live and that are driven by their needs - not those of the institutions that serve them. Children should receive treatment and care in the least restrictive setting consistent with public safety. In addition, children should receive those services as close to home as possible to enable the continued involvement of families and communities upon which so much of children's ultimate well-being and success depends.

This philosophical framework tracks closely with a model known among experts as 'Balanced and Restorative Justice' (BARJ), which has been found to help reduce recidivism and is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. This model has been adopted in numerous states, including New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, and Colorado. BARJ balances two traditional approaches: one, a 'support' model that takes the perspective that children need help to overcome antisocial behavior, and, the other, a 'punishment' model that assumes that children need to be incarcerated so that they can be 'taught a lesson.' BARJ offers a third way that both provides children with skills they need to succeed in the community and holds children accountable to their victims and the larger community. The values of this philosophy - public safety, accountability, and giving children skills to succeed - were validated in our planning process and are fully integrated into this plan.

Excerpted from Introduction