POLICY & LEGISLATION

The Balanced Approach launched a national movement in juvenile justice reform in the 1990s, starting a long journey that is more evolution than revolution. It provided the operational structure for mainstream implementation of restorative justice philosophies. The Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) model, in turn, has been adopted as the legislatively mandated juvenile justice purpose clause in over half the states. Several states engaged in systematic statewide initiatives to implement policies and programs that reflect the BARJ mission. Many local jurisdictions across the nation strategically embrace BARJ in their mission statements and conduct their operations with an eye toward specifically meeting BARJ goals. The BARJ model opened the door to develop and implement a broad variety of non-traditional programs and interventions designed to enhance youth accountability while supporting competency development and maintaining community safety.

Most states have a legislatively mandated purpose clause that defines their philosophical and strategic approach to youth criminal behavior or delinquency. A survey of state juvenile justice purpose clauses conducted by the National Center for Juvenile Justice identified four primary philosophical approaches to addressing juvenile justice, including: parens patriae, due process, the developmental approach, and BARJ.  NCJJ’s survey confirmed earlier findings by Pavelka that BARJ is the most prevalent legislatively articulated juvenile justice mission with 29 states embracing BARJ in their purpose clauses.