A 21st Century Developmentally Appropriate Juvenile Probation Approach

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jfcj.12108
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• Date: 01 March 2018
• Author: Robert G. Schwartz

A21

st

Century Developmentally Appropriate

Juvenile Probation Approach

By Robert G. Schwartz

ABSTRACT

Principles of adolescent development have accelerated positive changes to the

juvenile justice system. These changes have been most pronounced in reducing reli-

ance on incarceration and in approaches to sentencing of youth tried as adults. While

juvenile probation has made some developmentally friendly adjustments, it remains

an area that is fertile for reform. Many of the principles and goals in this paper have

been endorsed by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

(NCJFCJ), which “supports and is committed to juvenile probation systems that

conform to the latest knowledge of adolescent development and adolescent brain

science,” and which “recommends that courts cease imposing ‘conditions of proba-

tion’ and instead support probation departments’ developing, with families and

youth, individualized case plans that set expectations and goals.”

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NCJFCJ’s July, 2017 resolution in support of developmentally appropriate

juvenile probation services built on earlier NCJFCJ policies. From the time NCJFCJ

adopted Juvenile Delinquency Guidelines in 2005, those policies have grown increas-

ingly robust.

2

Key words: Juvenile Probation, Adolescent Development, Juvenile Justice, Adolescent Brain,

Juvenile Court.

Robert G. Schwartz is a visiting fellow at the Stoneleigh Foundation. Mr. Schwartz co-founded the

Juvenile Law Center in 1975 and was its executive director from 1982-2015. Mr. Schwartz’s career includes

fighting nationally and internationally for youth rights. Mr. Scwartz has held numerous leadership roles,

including Chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Youth at Risk and Chair of the Juvenile

Justice Committee of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section. He was also a member of the

MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice.

The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Stone-

leigh Foundation.

1

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (2017) Resolution Regarding Juvenile Probation

and Adolescent Development. Washington, DC: Author, found at https://www.ncjfcj.org/sites/default/files/Fnl_

AdoptedProbationPolicyResolution_7-2017_1.pdf.

2

See, for example, NCJFCJ’s 2016 resolution Regarding Judicial Training on Adolescent Brain Develop-

ment. NCJFCJ’s policies regarding transition and permanency planning for older foster youth reflect the

Council’s ongoing efforts to align judicial policy and practice with the latest knowledge of adolescent devel-

opment.

Juvenile and Family Court Journal 69, No. 1

©2018 National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

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