Program Areas | Juvenile Justice
Annie E. Casey Foundation, Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative: Technical Assistance for Information Infrastructure
The Annie E. Casey Foundation Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), begun in 1992, is one of the nation's most effective, influential, and widespread reform projects in juvenile justice. Replicated in more than 70 juvenile-justice jurisdictions in 21 states, it aims to reduce reliance on secure confinement of youth, improve public safety, reduce overrepresentation of youth of color, and save taxpayer dollars. Metis Associates has provided technical assistance to the initiative since its inception, helping sites throughout the nation increase their capacity to collect and use data to plan, assess the state of detention, and evaluate detention outcomes.
Metis has also provided customized technical support to local JDAI "team leaders" who consult on the projects, including retired judges, prosecutors, attorneys, policy-makers, and probation officers. Metis has worked to address various sites' need for computer-infrastructure assistance, help with data quality assurance, and human resources to manage and interpret data. Metis has developed user-friendly guides and system tools that facilitate the sites' organization of data and assessment of detention practices. We have also developed step-by-step quality-control data protocols and made recommendations for the local sites to develop partnerships with local colleges or universities to provide analytical support.
In 2007, JDAI asked Metis to develop a data repository to store the quantitative indicators from sites' quarterly reports. To display the data in a simple and user-friendly format, Metis staff developed the JDAI Dashboard, which the JDAI management and team leaders can easily access through an Internet browser. The dashboard also helps JDAI to monitor its grantees' progress.