Ongoing Projects
The Center has several current and past research projects and partnerships.
Reentry Mentoring Initiative:
The Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, or SVORI, is a federal initiative offered by the Arkansas Division of Youth Services to target, identify, and reintegrate adjudicated juveniles who are high risk offenders back into the community. DYS has partnered with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Juvenile Justice Center to provide these juveniles with mentors who will facilitate their reintegration out of DYS facilities and back into their communities. Once the mentors are selected, they begin their internship by attending a series of mandatory trainings, after which all mentors are required to spend at least one hour of face to face contact time a week with their mentees while in the facilities and a minimum of two hours a week of face to face contact time once the mentees are released back into the community. Upon successful completion of the internship, mentors receive three academic credits.
Juvenile Crime Analysis:
The Center has a sub-grant with the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Youth Services to conduct a statewide juvenile crime analysis. Results of this study will be used to help develop and revise the three year plan for the Arkansas Division of Youth Services.
Disproportionate Minority Contact:
Dr. Hutchinson is a member of the State’s DMC Committee. The Center is dedicated to research and policy analysis designed to eliminate the impact of juvenile justice on minorities.
Community Needs Assessment:
The Center had a sub-grant with the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Youth Services to complete a statewide community needs assessment related to the prevention and intervention of juvenile delinquency. Results of the study helped guide policy at the local level and facilitate community level planning.
Training:
The Juvenile Justice Center provides multidisciplinary outreach services in the area of training for teachers, school administrators, students, policy makers, treatment providers, court officials, law enforcement officers, non-profit organizations, lawyers, and aftercare providers with the relevant knowledge and skills relating to juvenile justice. Training topics include, but are not limited to, adolescent development, early childhood/brain development, dealing with disabilities, juvenile law, juvenile corrections, key indicators of child well-being, children exposed to violence, children who are victims of crimes, and issues of school violence prevention and intervention.