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CHANGE
FROM WITHIN

Transforming youth justice requires change from within systems, taking steps to align culture, information, and processes with the long term vision.

ABOUT THIS TOPIC

This module includes ways system leaders can change organizational culture, and create a data-driven culture and use data for action.

OVERVIEW

Undertaking large-scale system transformation depends on many different factors, including knowing where your jurisdiction currently sits relative to a desired vision; the detail and design of policy changes that move toward that vision; and the beliefs and behaviors of the people who will implement these policies. Collecting, understanding and using the right data can both provide a picture of where the jurisdiction sits with regard to the desired vision and provide a path towards that vision through a data-driven culture and keeping track of relevant metrics.

And lastly, real change depends on recognizing the significant role that organizational culture can play in advancing whether and how vision statements get translated and implemented in policies and practices that positively impact young people and their families on a daily basis. For this reason, taking steps to ensure that agency values and beliefs are internalized at all levels—from the agency director to frontline staff, and among community partners—is integral to achieving the ultimate goals of any transformation. Understanding the context of your system and making these changes from within the system first will be beneficial not only to the young people currently involved in the justice system but to a more seamless transformation process more broadly.

Organizational culture generally refers to the collective set of values, beliefs and behaviors that operate within an institution or agency. The culture of youth justice systems in particular have been shaped by their origins, reflecting the country’s history of racism and paternalism (see more in the chapter on Centering Racial Justice and Equity) and how the values and practices associated with these origins have been reinforced over time. Many other factors impact organizational culture, including current policies and practices, institutional structures, leadership, tenure and experience of staff, channels of formal and informal communication, partnerships, training and metrics. Staff who work with young people every day are a valuable resource and are necessary collaborators to bring new visions to reality in practice. Youth, families and communities are essential partners to defining and realizing a new vision for youth justice that will be youth-centered, family-focused and increasingly community-led. As leaders approach the task of shifting organizational culture to align with new values and goals, it is important to be humble, ask questions and be willing and eager to learn from partners inside and outside of the current system. 

As part of this new culture, and in order to both understand the current context of youth justice and see a path to the new vision, data analysis is a powerful tool for transformation. Used thoughtfully, the right data can cast light on current system practice, illuminate the mandate for change, and direct leaders where to focus. Data analysis is essential for measuring progress, keeping leaders accountable to the goals and values of transformation and determining the impact of changes made. Making sense of data and turning it into useful information for action begins with having a clear vision of the results the system should achieve and the many drivers that affect those results. Leaders working to transform a system are more likely to attract support and sustain momentum among partners if they can show how the new direction improves system and individual results. In addition, clarifying how changes in each part of the system are expected to contribute to better results is essential to choosing the data to be tracked and to using data to correct course when necessary and ensure continuous improvement. 

Artwork by Osei in collaboration with Studio Two Three for the Performing Statistics project.
View more artwork at our digital gallery..

KEY takeaways

DRAG | SWIPE
TAKEAWAY   1

EMPHASIZE STAFF PARTICIPATION, INCLUSION AND COLLABORATION.

TAKEAWAY 2 

EMBED YOUTH WELL-BEING AND SUCCESS INTO ALL OF THE WORK.

TAKEAWAY  3

BUILD A STRONG DATA TEAM AND ASSESS CURRENT DATA USE AND CAPACITY.

TAKEAWAY  4

USE KEY GOALS TO UNDERSTAND THE DATA NEEDED TO GUIDE TRANSFORMATION.

TAKEAWAY  4

PRESENT DATA AND FINDINGS VISUALLY FOR MULTIPLE PARTNERS AND AUDIENCES.

SELF-ASSESSMENT INDICATORS

Indicators
that progress
has been made in culture change

Indicators that progress has been made in shifting the culture of a youth justice agency to one that is aligned with transformation.

SELF-ASSESSMENT INDICATORS

INDICATORS THAT 
PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN CULTURE CHANGE

Indicators that progress has been made in shifting the culture of a youth justice agency to one that is aligned with transformation:

Leaders have an understanding of political context and the vision and work of other agencies within their jurisdiction, in order to advance transformation efforts that will be sustainable.

Leaders are and have been transparent with staff and external partners about the vision for and direction of transformation. Leadership is explicit about the short- and long-term goals of transformation, including acknowledging and repairing harms such as racial injustice and inequity, closing facilities and moving toward a community-led paradigm.

Leadership has worked with, or is currently working with, staff to identify shared goals and values for the youth justice system that align with the core values and principles of youth justice transformation described in this Guide. Leadership is working with staff at all levels of the agency and has hired a skilled facilitator to guide these discussions.

Leaders and staff have examined, or are examining, existing youth justice practice according to shared values and goals. Leaders and staff are working together to develop and update policies and practices for a new youth justice system. Leaders have centered racial justice and equity in this work, emphasizing the racial impacts of past practice and awareness in developing new, equitable policies and practices.

Staff at all levels of the agency are participating in developing and updating policies and practices and report feeling included in the transformation process. Staff have received support and training so that some may become champions for change.

Leaders have emphasized partnering with youth, families, communities and other youth justice agencies in youth justice transformation. Leadership has created an ongoing planning and implementation body that includes these partners and has hired youth, family and community partners and other experts to train staff for this work.

Leaders have invested in training and ongoing coaching for staff to prepare them for system transformation, including training in the history of the system, its racist origins, its harms and the need for transformation; training in the latest scientific research on adolescent development; and core skills required for new youth justice practice

Staff language and behavior is shifting in the youth justice system, with a focus on person-centered language and demeanor in interactions with youth and families.

SELF-ASSESSMENT INDICATORS

Indicators
that action
is needed TO 
CHANGE CULTURE

Indicators that further attention to culture change is needed, which can point the way to areas for attention and reform.

SELF-ASSESSMENT INDICATORS

INDICATORS THAT 
ACTION IS NEEDED TO CHANGE CULTURE

Indicators that further attention to culture change is needed, which can point the way to areas for attention and reform:

Youth justice leaders have not been transparent with staff about the vision for and direction of transformation. Leaders have been vague or veiled about the goals and changes ahead.

Leaders have not invited staff into reform conversations and have not engaged with staff about shared goals and values for the youth justice system; if leaders have met with staff, they have invited only staff at certain levels of the agency to participate, rather than a diverse and representative group from across the agency. Leaders have not invested in facilitators for this process.

Leaders have not, and are not, working with staff to develop new policies and practices to align with transformation.

Leaders have not emphasized the role of youth, families and communities in the transformation process, have not trained staff to work with them or have not invited them to the table for planning and implementation conversations.

Leaders have not engaged other youth-serving agencies as partners in transformation.

Leaders have not invested in training for staff to prepare them for the work of transformation, or system leaders have invested in one-time, superficial or isolated training for staff but not meaningful training and ongoing coaching.

Staff language and behavior is not shifting in the youth justice system. Staff continue to use distancing and pejorative terms to refer to young people involved with the system and behave according to a punitive and correctional paradigm.

Leadership has not revised recruiting and hiring processes to hire new staff who are well-suited and skilled for transformation.

Leaders have not developed new metrics for the system focused on youth well-being and success and have not worked with staff and partners to create new metrics. Metrics continue to reflect old youth justice values of punishment and control, focused on recidivism and similar measure.

Staff are actively opposed to youth justice transformation on the job, off the job, in protests and/or in alignment with unions.

SELF-ASSESSMENT INDICATORS

Indicators
that progress
has been made
IN USING DATA

Indicators that a jurisdiction has made significant progress in developing its data systems to serve transformation.

SELF-ASSESSMENT INDICATORS

INDICATORS THAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN TURNING DATA INTO ACTION

Indicators that a jurisdiction has made significant progress in developing its data systems to serve transformation include:

Leaders have clearly outlined the goals of transformation and worked with their data analysis teams to identify what data will be needed to understand current practice, how to implement the goals of transformation and how to measure success.

Leaders have assessed their own capacity for understanding data and using it to guide system transformation.

Leaders have established internally data analysis team or contracted with an external team that includes a senior manager with deep understanding of critical policy and practice decisions, a skilled data analyst, a technical expert proficient in extracting and integrating data from multiple information systems and someone with the skills to create engaging visual presentations of the data for many audiences.

Leaders have worked together with their data teams to assess internal data management capacity and to develop short- and long-term plans for using the data and for filling gaps and building more robust data capacity.

Leaders have worked with their data teams and key partners to develop a baseline case flow map of the current system, identifying available and missing data.

Leaders have worked with the data team to identify a list of available data variables and a list of desired variables, as well as a plan for acquiring the data or creating it, including qualitative data from youth, families and communities.

Leaders and data teams have worked together to understand the various types of comparative analyses that are useful to understanding current system practice, needs and areas for transformation and the effects of transformation, including trendline analyses, cohort analyses and disaggregation analyses.

Leaders and data teams understand how to present the data visually for multiple audiences to ensure use by various partners in transformation and widespread accountability to the goals of transformation.

Leaders have established an internal and/or external data dashboard that keeps leaders, managers, and staff focused on key indicators of transformation and accountable to measurable change and achievable goals.

SELF-ASSESSMENT INDICATORS

Indicators
that action
is needed IN USING DATA

Indicators that a jurisdiction has more work to do in setting up data systems that will serve transformation.

SELF-ASSESSMENT INDICATORS

INDICATORS THAT 
ACTION IS NEEDED IN USING DATA FOR TRANSFORMATION

Indicators that a jurisdiction has more work to do in setting up data systems that will serve transformation include:

Leaders have not analyzed the current system or current population; they may have significant gaps in understanding of the current system and of whom they serve.

Leaders are unaware of their own capacity for understanding or using data. They are unfamiliar with using data or are uncomfortable using it and have taken few steps to educate themselves or build internal staff capacity.

Leaders lack staff capable of identifying data needed, setting up data systems, conducting comparative analyses relevant to transformation and presenting data in visually intelligible and engaging ways.

Leaders mostly collect and use data for typical purposes of meeting basic youth justice reporting requirements.

Leaders are unaware of the data that will be needed to understand the current system or to drive transformation and measure success.

Leaders are unaware of the agency’s current data management capacity, and of existing gaps in data. There may be significant gaps in available or accurate data based on old and outdated systems.

Leaders have not engaged a process of understanding or developing data capacity for immediate use in guiding transformation or longer-term data system development.

TAKE 
ACTION.

These steps provide specific guidance for how to change systems from within, and taking steps to align culture, information, and processes. All of these steps are central in youth justice system reform, and can be implemented concurrently.

DRAG | SWIPE
ACTION  STEP

Understand & assess the current culture within your system.

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Understand & assess the current culture within your system.

Engage staff in discussions with leadership about shared goals and values for the youth justice system, and examine existing policies and practices in terms of shared goals and values.

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ACTION  STEP

Start with transparency and inclusion.

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Start with transparency & inclusion.

Providing consistent and clear communication around the vision and goals of transformation can build trust between leadership and staff and a healthy organizational culture that propels goals forward.

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ACTION  STEP

Embed Youth Well-Being and Success into All Parts of the Work.

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Embed Youth Well-Being and Success into All Parts of the Work.

Invest in staff training and development that emphasizes youth well-being, racial equity and community-based support, and continue training and coaching over the course of transformation.

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ACTION  STEP

Build a strong data analysis team.

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Build a strong data analysis team.

The data analysis team should include at least a senior manager who can develop the information agenda; a skilled data analyst who can perform statistical studies and analyze data sets, and knows how to present findings in accessible ways; a proficient technical expert with experience in extracting data in various formats from the management information system; and someone with the skills to create engaging visual representations of the data.

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ACTION  STEP

Use vision & goals to understand
data needs.

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Use vision and goals to understand data needs.

Working with the data analysis team, use the goals of transformation to analyze the data you will need to understand the current system, what is working to support youth well-being, what changes need to be made, and progress made with these changes and their success in better serving the goals of youth justice.

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DEEP DIVES

CREATING STAFF 
REVIEW TEAMS

Learn about how to develop an ongoing staff review team with membership from staff at every level of the agency to facilitate organizational culture change.

UTILIZING SYSTEM Assessments

Learn about how to how to structure and utilize
system assessments to advance system transformation.

TYPES OF
DATA ANALYSIS

Learn about the different types of analyses that can be useful tools in examining current practice, understanding changes and trends in practice. .

TIPS & Case Studies

Take a look at some tips and notable examples of places working to change systems from within harnessing data to drive youth justice transformation.

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Tip

Facilitation Guide: Discussions with Staff about Shared Goals and Values

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Tip

Facilitation Guide: Discussions with Staff about Shared Goals and Values

Skilled, experienced facilitators can organize and run conversations between staff and leadership engaged in youth justice transformation, hold space for dialogue around potential conflicts and help the group arrive at a list of shared values and goals that resonate with staff and leadership and can be used to guide transformation and the culture change process. Useful questions a facilitator might ask to begin and guide conversations include:

  • Why did you choose this line of work?What were you hoping to achieve?
  • What values and principles guide your work? What is the experience you hope every young person has who comes through this system?
  • What are the outcomes that you hope young people who you meet in the system will have?

Reviewing a list of shared values and goals common to youth justice system transformation can be helpful to assess how much alignment exists between staff and leadership. Lists of shared values from other jurisdictions that have engaged successfully in system transformation efforts can be helpful to draw upon as an example for both staff and leadership. Examples of values can also be found in our chapter on Developing a Shared Vision for Transformation. Below are some potential shared values and goals to work through in conversations.

  • Shared values may include: respect, dignity, equity, justice, safety, well-being, partnership.
  • Shared goals for youth, families and communities may include: safety for everyone—at home, in the community and in youth justice programs and facilities; youth well-being, thriving and engagement in the community; stable school attendance and/or employment; family reunification and stability; reduction of crime and delinquency.
  • Shared goals for the system may include: addressing and eliminating immediate harms and inequities; closing facilities; increasing reliance on community-led services.

Youth justice leaders may want to work with facilitators to consider what strategies and forums might be best suited to launch and continue dialogues with staff throughout the agency.Conversations might begin amongst the executive team and supervisors, ensuring that leadership is prepared to both implement and model behavior with their teams in a way that contributes to a healthy, asset-based culture, discussed further below. Leaders might then organize a series of conversations with staff in a variety of forums, ranging from town halls where all staff are convened and are able to ask questions openly, to working group meetings where staff collaborate with smaller numbers of peers representing various positions, to opportunities for more informal conversations such as office hours for staff to share questions or concerns with leadership in a more confidential arena.

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Case Study

Reforming Practice Through Changing Culture

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Case Study

Reforming Practice Through Changing Culture

Pierce County, Washington has been highlighted numerous times in this Guide, and in other resources about transforming juvenile probation and youth justice work. They have pioneered anOpportunity-Based Probation model with a positive youth justice framework, and not only changed their practice, but started from a place of centering racial justice and equity, collaborating with youth and their families and communities and working with staff at all levels to change the organizational culture.Leadership in Pierce County has noted that staff buy-in is crucial to the success of young people and of the program.

Pierce County has been thoughtful and deliberate about its collaboration with community partners from the very inception of its transformative programming. This process included staff on the front lines being involved in conversations with youth and family about what types of services they wanted and needed, and then finding community-based programs already in existence which met those needs, were aligned with theCounty’s vision and were willing to work with young people.

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Tip

Transforming Staff Language and Behavior Toward Youth

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Tip

Transforming Staff Language and Behavior Toward Youth

Culture is well reflected in routine interactions and language used between staff and youth. For example, currently in many jurisdictions it is not uncommon to hear staff refer to young people as “offenders.” This language may be so ingrained in agency culture that there is little to no reflection about how these terms shape perspectives of or interactions with young people.

A core part of the culture change process will be to retrain staff in using person-first language that humanizes young people who are involved with the youth justice system, as well as their families and communities, builds a strengths-based perspective of youth and repositions staff as agents of support and change for young people. Using simple, human terms such as “young people with strengths and challenges,” for example, immediately provides a more human and complex image than distancing and dehumanizing terms such as “delinquents” or “offenders,” and leads staff to consider ways in which they can support young people and invest in their strengths.Of course, language changes alone do not create change; they go hand in hand with all other practical aspects of transformation described in this chapter and in this Guide. Specific training such as anti-racism training may be useful in addition to open, honest and collaborative conversations between staff, leadership, young people, families and representatives of impacted communities to develop language that is supportive of a new paradigm and youth experience of justice.

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Tip

Which Data Should You Track?

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Tip

Which Data Should You Track?

Typically, systems collect quantitative data—data that can be measured and reported in raw numbers. Less often, systems collect qualitative data—narrative reports of system experiences and functioning. Both types of data are essential to understanding how the system operates and its impact on youth, families and communities. While each youth justice system is different, quantitative information is usually more readily available. Nevertheless, both sources of data will likely require further development as part of a longer-term data development agenda.

Quantitative data

Leaders should ask the data analysis team to review the following key performance measures relevant to the system’s dynamics and case flow. Where relevant, the data should include the number and percent for each category and trends over time.

  • Arrests by categories of offense
  • Sources of referrals or complaints
  • Diversion activities by police and prosecutors; probation adjustments
  • Formal filings
  • Detention admissions
  • Detention overrides
  • Detention lengths of stay
  • Adjudications by category of offense
  • Dispositions, including orders of probation, community programs and out-of-home placements (secure and non-secure)
  • Time analysis for key processes, such as lag time between:
  • Assessed risk levels (if applicable)
  • Analysis of the system’s ability to match available services and supports to the needs and strengths of individual young people and their families
  • Analysis of any patterns in decisions that override system policies and/or recommendations based on formal assessment of risks and needs
  • Analysis of the use of out-of-home placement due to lack of family-focused and community services
  • Waiting lists or other indicators of lack of service capacity
  • Reliance on out-of-state or other distant resources
  • Capacity and utilization rates of available services and supports
  • Admissions and lengths of stay for all services

Many systems will need to invest in developing capacity to collect, analyze and interpret data bearing on the results of the system’s interventions. While transformation efforts should not be delayed while capacity is built, leaders should ensure that tracking and reporting on system results is a high priority for the data development agenda.

Qualitative Data

As they build out the data development agenda, leaders should establish regular, systematic processes for gathering information and feedback from young people who experience the system, their families and members of their communities, as well as youth justice staff, leaders and partners from other youth-serving agencies.These efforts should include formal surveys and group forums as well as interviews and other individualized conversations. This qualitative information is essential to gaining a much clearer picture of the young people the system is serving, their experiences in the system, current system failures and opportunities for transformation that will improve success.

  • Speaking directly with young people and their families offers critical information and insights not only into their own needs and strengths but also about the gaps and barriers within the system.
  • Periodic surveys can provide leaders with feedback on a wide range of issues including whether young people and families understand how the system works, their rights and responsibilities, opportunities to register concerns and complaints, ideas on ways the system can be improved and conditions of confinement.
  • For leaders who oversee facilities, particularly secure facilities, making regular announced and unannounced visits to facilities is crucial in understanding the day-to-day experience of young people in the agency’s care.
  • System leaders should also work to understand the experiences and perspectives of key youth justice system partners, staff and other youth-serving agencies.
  • In addition to soliciting direct feedback in this way, leaders should regularly conduct an in-depth review of a sample of cases to ground themselves in current case processing practices as well as the fit between youth needs, placement and service decision-making processes and outcomes, and available programs.
  • A next level step of this work is to integrate young people, families, community members, staff and partners directly into the research and data development agenda through inclusive research methods such asParticipatory Action Research (PAR).

A combination of quantitative and qualitative data can provide system leaders and partners with critical information about gaps in existing services when assessed alongside the needs of young people in the system and their families. This gap analysis is especially important when trying to understand system failures, such as a significant uptick in secure custody or other out-of-home placement, or an increase in the number of youth failing to complete probation or other programs, and how to respond with system changes as part of the transformation process.

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WATCH
WEBINAR

Harnessing Data
for Transformation

This panel discussed why data is so crucial to efforts to transform youth justice systems and the way we think about justice for young people, how data has been used in past transformation efforts, and some key ways that other leaders can use data (and how to do it).

Learn More about this Webinar
WEBINAR

CENTERING YOUTH & FAMILIES

AIRED MARCH 23, 2022 @ 3PM EDT

This discussion covered both the why and the how of having the most impacted youth and families leading transformation.

PANELISTS

HERNAN CARVENTE MARTINEZ

National Youth Partnership Strategist,
Youth First Initiative

MODERATOR

XIUHTECUTLI SOTO

New Mexico Youth Justice Coalition

KATHY WRIGHT

Executive Director,
New Jersey Parents Caucus

TJ  BOHL

Administrator,
Pierce County Juvenile Court

HIGHLIGHTS

Kathy Wright, Executive Director of New Jersey Parents Caucus, talks about the need to learn about the impact of the system directly from young people who experienced it and to trust them to lead if we are to create change.

Xiuhtecutli (Xiuy) Soto of the New Mexico Youth Justice Coalition speaks about how transforming youth justice begins with having patience with, providing support for, and relating to young people like him.

TJ Bohl, Administrator at Pierce County Juvenile Court, on some of the cultural obstacles inside the system to collaborating with communities, and the need for system leaders to overcome defensiveness to building a path forward together.

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