DJS started statewide participation in the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) in 2007. The goals of JDAI are to reduce overcrowding in juvenile detention centers by safely maintaining the youth in the community in detention alternatives without jeopardizing public safety or increasing the number of youth who fail to appear for court. JDAI is a best practice model that eliminates inappropriate and unnecessary use of detention and protects public safety by minimuzing failures for juveniles to appear in court.
Expanded statewide participation in JDAI began in the fall of 2007 with the development and planned implementation of the Detention Risk Assessment Instrument (DRAI) in five local jurisdictions. The Department will use a standardized DRAI template statewide that allows for variation in scoring that reflects region-specific differences. DJS decided to develop locally validated instruments for the five largest jurisdictions (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties and Baltimore City) and a separate instrument for the remaining nineteen counties, resulting is six locally validated DRAI. The local DRAI have been completed with the assistance of the University of Maryland's Institute for Governmental Service and Research (IGSR). For the first time in DJS history, the decision to detain a youth will be based on a validated assessment of a youth's risk to the community and the potential of the youth failing to appear for future court dates. Each of the five largest local jurisdictions was given the opportunity to have input into the development of the final version of the DRAI for their respective jurisdiction. Presentations were organized and given throughout the state to local stakeholders and were used as a forum to explain the tools, purpose and validation process. The final versions of the DRAI are automated and DJS staff have been trained to use the automated tool. The Department will complete a re-validation study by the end of fiscal year 2010.
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