Community Involvement
Increasing community capacity to work with youth at risk for incarceration is the key to sustaining systemic reform of the juvenile justice system (OJJDP, 2010). However, there still remains to have a disconnection between the juvenile justice system and the local community (OJJDP, 2010). Community justice seeks to engage citizens and community groups both as clients and as resources of juvenile justice systems, while promoting a more effective response to prevent crime and prompt restorative activities when a crime occurs (OJJDP, 2010).
Its mission attempts to ensure that juvenile justice intervention is focused on basic community needs and expectations (OJJDP, 2010). Communities expect justice systems to improve public safety, sanction juvenile crime, and habilitate and reintegrate offenders (OJJDP, 2010). Juvenile justice professionals balance these needs and goals in each case and equally allocate its resources to meeting each need (OJJDP, 2010). Community justice can be described as a process that repairs harm, reduces risk, and empowers community. Its emphasis is on a mutually coordinated response through crime prevention, remediation of criminal activity, and determination of short- and long-term needs of community members affected by the consequences of a criminal act (OJJDP, 2010). Ultimately, community justice is realized when equal consideration and resources are provided to crime prevention, the reduced risk to public safety by providing appropriate consequences to offenders, and the restoration of victims and the community (OJJDP, 2010).
Restorative Justice Program
The Probation Department program is geared to assist kids who have committed small crimes. The program will also provide services to keep these kids and other at-risk minors away from crime. The program wants to keep these minors out of the juvenile