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UNO Institute Tracking Outcomes of Nebraska Juvenile Justice Programs

A partnership between the UNO Juvenile Justice Institute and multiple community partners is helping track youth in juvenile justice programs. Projects like these are now available in UNO’s Community Engagement Partnership Initiative (CEPI).

  • published: 2021/03/01
  • contact: Robyn Loos - Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center
  • email: rloos@unomaha.edu
An image displaying one of three CEPI maps, with provided filters and click through direction.

The Juvenile Justice Institute (JJI) collaborates with dozens of counties statewide to measure whether programming is effective at deterring youth from subsequent juvenile justice involvement.

The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) Juvenile Justice Institute (JJI) collaborates with dozens of counties statewide to measure whether programming is effective at deterring youth from subsequent juvenile justice involvement.

The Institute partners with 59 diversion programs statewide, including many nonprofit agencies, county attorneys, and government agencies. Programs enter data into the Juvenile Case Management System, which was developed by JJI and UNO’s College of Information Science and Technology (IS&T), to help determine whether diversion programs are effective at keeping youth from committing subsequent crimes. This social justice-driven project is one of many examples shared in the UNO Community Engagement Partnership Initiative (CEPI).

The diversion programs work with youth and families to help the youth be accountable and responsible for the law offense they committed. The support and guidance of the program provided are crucial because if youth do not successfully complete the program those minor law violation charges are filed in court. The life skills these youth develop are aimed at helping them be successful in the future.

JJI is a unit housed in UNO School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and in the UNO College of Public Affairs and Community Service. The UNO School of Criminology and Criminal Justice is a nationally recognized leader in criminological research and education. Signature areas of excellence are Victimology, Corrections, Policing and Terrorism, and Biosocial Criminology.

About CEPI

As a premier metropolitan institution, UNO faculty, staff, and students collaborate with community partners regularly through mutually-beneficial and reciprocal projects. Examples include engaged research, community-based learning (internships, practicums, etc.), knowledge/resource sharing, service learning, board memberships, and volunteerism.

The Community Engagement Partnership Initiative (CEPI) allows campus units to showcase their community engagement efforts and partnership impacts by legislative districts through a series of maps and analytics.

For more information about CEPI please contact Keristiena Dodge at kshenouda@unomaha.edu or download the CEPI Handout.

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