UNO Juvenile Justice Institute to Provide National Technical Assistance

The University of Nebraska at Omaha's Juvenile Justice Institute has been selected to provide national technical assistance as part of a new initiative by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The initiative, called Building Continuums of Care to Support Youth Success, aims to support comprehensive community-based programs for youth across the United States.

The Juvenile Justice Institute's involvement is facilitated through a partnership with JBS International, one of three entities awarded training and technical assistance funds by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Together, they will work with other providers to offer extensive support to the 23 initiative grantees nationwide.

“We are excited to have this opportunity to join experts from across the country to help communities do this important work of building cross-sector intentional continuums of care for youth and families,” said Monica Miles-Steffens, assistant director at the Juvenile Justice Institute and lead on this project. “Not only can we share some of the innovative things happening in Nebraska with the rest of the country, but we can bring new ideas back to help support our communities as well.”

The collaborative efforts of the JBS International team and the Juvenile Justice Institute will provide one-on-one support to approximately one-third of the grantees. In addition, they collaborate with the other TTA partners to develop webinars, toolkits, other resources, fostering peer learning, and in-person meetings. The JBS team has already begun working with Douglas County, one of the sites benefiting from these funds.

“Douglas County has done a fantastic job of accessing federal funds to develop and enhance local programs and services,” said Anne Hobbs, director of the Juvenile Justice Institute. “We have worked with the county for many years and are looking forward to supporting their efforts in this project.”

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has committed to another round of these grants, with the potential for future implementation funding. This continued support underscores the importance of building effective continuums of care that span prevention, intervention, treatment, and reentry strategies.

To learn more about this initiative, visit https://bit.ly/jjitraining.