Examples and Tools for Engagement
Crawford County Restorative Justice Authority Youth Justice Improvement Initiative
Engaging Stakeholders in Crawford County
The Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) Juvenile Service Division and the Kansas Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (KAG) supported a youth justice assessment and improvement initiative through the Restorative Justice Authority (RJA) and the juvenile justice system (JD#11) in Crawford County, Kansas in 2020. The initiative sought to engage a broad array of community and juvenile justice stakeholders. Initially, a small working group was established to plan initial steps for the improvement process.
The goals of engagement were to gain a clear picture of the current state of the juvenile justice system in Crawford County; disparities, barriers and challenges within the system; strengths of the system; critical points for improvement and strategies and action for system improvement. In addition, it sought to create an action group for capacity building and systems improvement.
The juvenile justice system was viewed broadly to include community groups and organizations that engaged youth in the community as preventative or treatment services, not only law enforcement and the courts. Stakeholders were identified by knowledgeable staff and partners of the Restorative Justice Authority (RJA) and were selected for interviews for assessment as well as participation in future action teams. Recruitment for participation was conducted through RJA staff and other knowledgeable community leaders’ relationships within the community. Flyers and emails described the initiatives and it's goals and were first sent to community stakeholders and requests to participate in the initial interviews and data gathering for the assessment. Recruitment served both engagement and assessment goals. Initiative engagement was implemented early during the COVID Pandemic and was mostly virtual and to make engagement as easy as possible, existing groups that were involved in youth justice were engaged to review data and set priorities. The functioning and definition of the group evolved over time as demands changed. Meetings were led by project and RJA staff, and methods were developed and used to engage all participants (e.g., feedback forms, and surveys). The Juvenile Corrections Advisory Board and an advisory group of other stakeholders became the decision making groups for implementation of the key components of the improvement process – Engagement, assessment, planning, action, evaluation/reflection, and sustaining. The Restorative Justice Authority became the backbone organization spearheading this effort.
Tools and Resources