The michigan department of health and human services (mdhhs) has been designated by governor gretchen whitmer as the agency responsible for administering the juvenile justice and delinquency…

The michigan department of health and human services (mdhhs) has been designated by governor gretchen whitmer as the agency responsible for administering the juvenile justice and delinquency prevention act (jjdpa) title II grant for the state of michigan. The state advisory group (SAG) for michigan is known as the michigan committee on juvenile justice (mcjj). In late summer, the mcjj submitted a technical assistance request for SAG 101 training (virtual) and three-year strategic planning (virtual) focused on training mcjj members and mdhhs staff on the jjdpa, identify priority areas for inclusion in the three-year plan, and outline strategies to achieve and maintain compliance. The office of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention (ojjdp) approved this request and assigned the technical assistance request to the center for coordinated assistance to states (ccas) in september 2020. During this process, the mcjj adopted four priority areas to help guide their work over the next three years. The mcjj's four juvenile justice priority areas are as follows: 1) establishing a statewide data system; 2) racial and ethnic disparities; 3) mental health; 4) delinquency prevention. Subcommittees were established to represent each priority, in addition to a grants subcommittee. Due to the great intersection between the mental health and delinquency prevention priorities, one subcommittee was formed to avoid duplication of effort. These priority areas will aid in identifying long term goals and will guide funding decisions for projects intended to prevent and reduce delinquency for children in michigan. Michigan is currently finishing work on two r/ED projects, as well as starting the grant making process for new r/ED projects that will focus on reduction at the arrest decision point. Another initiative being addressed is partnering with mental health to develop a one- day learning event for juvenile mental health providers and juvenile court workers, that will encourage more collaboration, as well as providing insight to how each sector works. The third initiative being addressed is developing a strategy which will improve the state's juvenile justice data system. This initiative is a collaborative effort between the mcjj and volunteer juvenile justice stakeholders. The objective is to coordinate and streamline the various data collection systems that will serve to improve the accuracy, consistency, and availability of juvenile justice data.