43-2404.01.

Comprehensive juvenile services plan; contents; statewide system to evaluate fund recipients; Director of the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program; duties.

(1) To be eligible for participation in either the Commission Grant Program or the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program, a comprehensive juvenile services plan shall be developed, adopted, and submitted to the commission in accordance with the federal act and rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the commission in consultation with the Director of the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program, the Director of Juvenile Diversion Programs, the Office of Probation Administration, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Juvenile Justice Institute. Such plan may be developed by eligible applicants for the Commission Grant Program and by individual counties, by multiple counties, by federally recognized or state-recognized Indian tribes, or by any combination of the three for the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program. Comprehensive juvenile services plans shall:

(a) Be developed by a comprehensive community team representing juvenile justice system stakeholders;

(b) Be based on data relevant to juvenile and family issues, including an examination of disproportionate minority contact in order to identify juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, the disproportionate number of juvenile members of minority groups who come into contact with the juvenile justice system;

(c) Identify policies and practices that are research-based or standardized and reliable and are implemented with fidelity and which have been researched and demonstrate positive outcomes;

(d) Identify clear implementation strategies; and

(e) Identify how the impact of the program or service will be measured.

(2) Any portion of the comprehensive juvenile services plan dealing with administration, procedures, and programs of the juvenile court shall not be submitted to the commission without the concurrence of the presiding judge or judges of the court or courts having jurisdiction in juvenile cases for the geographic area to be served. Programs or services established by such plans shall conform to the family policy tenets prescribed in sections 43-532 and 43-533 and shall include policies and practices that are research-based or standardized and reliable and are implemented with fidelity and which have been researched and demonstrate positive outcomes.

(3) The commission, in consultation with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Juvenile Justice Institute, shall contract for the development and administration of a statewide system to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of plans and programs receiving funds from (a) the Commission Grant Program and (b) the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program in preventing persons from entering the juvenile justice system and in rehabilitating juvenile offenders, including an examination of disproportionate minority contact in order to identify juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, the disproportionate number of juvenile members of minority groups who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.

(4) There is established within the commission the position of Director of the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program, appointed by the executive director of the commission. The director shall have extensive experience in developing and providing community-based services.

(5) The director shall be supervised by the executive director of the commission. The director shall:

(a) Provide technical assistance and guidance for the development of comprehensive juvenile services plans;

(b) Coordinate the review of the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program application as provided in section 43-2404.02 and make recommendations for the distribution of funds provided under the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program, giving priority to those grant applications funding programs and services that will divert juveniles from the juvenile justice system, impact and effectively treat juveniles within the juvenile justice system, and reduce the juvenile detention population or assist juveniles in transitioning from out-of-home placements to in-home treatments. The director shall ensure that no funds appropriated or distributed under the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program are used for purposes prohibited under subsection (3) of section 43-2404.02;

(c) Develop data collection and evaluation protocols, oversee statewide data collection, and generate an annual report on the effectiveness of juvenile services that receive funds from the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program, including an examination of disproportionate minority contact in order to identify juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, the disproportionate number of juvenile members of minority groups who come into contact with the juvenile justice system;

(d) Develop relationships and collaborate with juvenile justice system stakeholders, provide education and training as necessary, and serve on boards and committees when approved by the commission;

(e) Assist juvenile justice system stakeholders in developing policies and practices that are research-based or standardized and reliable and are implemented with fidelity and which have been researched and demonstrate positive outcomes, including an examination of disproportionate minority contact in order to identify juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, the disproportionate number of juvenile members of minority groups who come into contact with the juvenile justice system;

(f) Develop and coordinate a statewide working group as a subcommittee of the coalition to assist in regular strategic planning related to supporting, funding, monitoring, and evaluating the effectiveness of plans and programs receiving funds from the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program; and

(g) Work with the coalition in facilitating the coalition's obligations under the Community-based Juvenile Services Aid Program.