The Justice Reinvestment Strategies

Over the past few decades, juvenile crimes have drastically increased over the world. Due to an increase in juvenile criminality between the years 1980 and 1990, there were a significant increase of juvenile offenders in America (Schweitzer et al., 2015). In order to lower crime rates, the federal government enacted strict laws and regulations governing juvenile crimes. Longer prison sentences and convicting children in adult courts were two of the policies. However, the American government is actively promoting justice reinvestment methods to lower crime rates and improve neighborhood safety. This paper will discuss justice reinvestment strategies aimed at reducing crime of incarcerated youth.

Besides, the increase in the use of incarceration for juvenile offenders in the United States primarily between 1980 and 1990’s is associated to rise of overall crime rates among the youths (Schweitzer et al., 2015). For instance, America experienced several cases of violent and non-violent crimes which resulted in confinement of many teenagers. Also, drug law violation, as well as handgun homicides, led to rising in the detention of the juveniles. For example, the crack-cocaine epidemic experienced in the mid-1980s fuelled the matter of confinement. As a result, politicians and government enacted strict policies on crime-related actions thus increasing incarceration for juveniles.

Justice reinvestment is a concept and approach which involves diverting funds that would usually be spent on keeping offenders in jails to societies with significantly high rates of incarceration and offending. The communities are given opportunity and capacity to invest in services and programs that address the fundamental cause of crime, hence reducing the rate of recidivism as well as the criminal behavior. According to Butts & Evans (2015), justice reinvestment emphasizes on unlawful practice as well as reducing the number of individuals convicted in the criminal justice system, thereby reducing crime rates and over imprisonment.

Justice reinvestment strategies involve identification of the problem, development, and implementation of the necessary policies (Butts & Evans, 2011). Firstly, the justice center analyzes data regarding arrest, prison, jail or arrest as provided by the state and cross-references the information with criminal activity reports. Consequently, policies are enacted to reduce re-offending, reduce the spending on corrections as well as improve public safety. The adoption and implementation of policies are enhanced to ensure achievement of the projected results. In America, reinvestment strategies involve community-based programs which require reallocation of funds for imprisonment to community-based programs (Schweitzer et al., 2015). The money allocated by the government is spent on rehabilitation of youths.

Remarkably, reinvestment strategies aim to reduce imprisonment as well as make communities safer. According to Butts & Evans (2011), the approach responds to societal needs as well as they achieve a better return on their program investments. As a result, the community becomes safe due to fewer incidences of crimes. Also, the strategy hopes to reduce the country’s high rate of incarceration as well as save money spend on imprisonment. Besides, the expenditure on jailing is converted into use in building community desires that aim at improving the welfare of all its members.

Finally, I support justice reinvestment since it is the most efficient approach that can be used to reduce crime cases as well as ensure a safe society. For instance, the strategy has received a great success especially in various states in America such as New York and Ohio among others. For example, Ohio has made a substantial effort to reduce the overall reliance on incarceration by use of reinvestment strategies (Schweitzer et al., 2015). Therefore, governments should consider using this approach thus ensure efficient rehabilitation process, reduce over imprisonment as well as ensure safety in the community.

References

Butts, J. A., & Evans, D. N. (2011). The resolution, reinvestment, and realignment: Three strategies for changing juvenile justice. New York: Research and Evaluation Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York.

Schweitzer, M., Labrecque, M., R. & Smith, P. (2015). Reinvesting in the lives of youth: A Targeted Approach to Reducing Recidivism.