Minnesota Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee - Minnesota State ...

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training programs such as the Workforce Investment Act, Minnesota Youth Program and
Youthbuild, provide approximately 10,000 of Minnesota’s at-risk youth, including juvenile
offenders, with opportunities to develop the skills needed to succeed in the future. In State
Fiscal Year 2010, 44 percent of participants had a disability, 41 percent were from families
receiving public assistance, 42 percent were from communities of color, and 45 percent
were system-involved youth (foster youth or juvenile offenders).
With additional Workforce Investment Act funding provided by the American Reinvestment
and Recovery Act, Minnesota expanded 2009 summer youth employment opportunities to
an additional 6,749 youth. The work readiness attainment rate was 94 percent and the
summer youth completion rate was 93 percent. Youth participants had multiple challenges
such as substance abuse, criminal records and mental health issues, in addition to being
poor. The Recovery Act allowed Minnesota to almost triple the number of youth who had
job opportunities at a time when unemployment rates among young people in Minnesota
are at the highest level in a generation.
In 2009-10, DEED partnered with DHS and the Minnesota Workforce Council Association
(MWCA) to provide work experience and work readiness training for teen parents enrolled
in the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP). Approximately 300 teen parents were
served in 16 sites in this year-round pilot initiative.
As a result of the successful Teen Parent Pilot Project, DEED again partnered with DHS and
the MWCA to secure Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Emergency
Contingency Funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to operate a
TANF Summer Youth Program in the summer of 2010. This project targeted low-income
youth who are on MFIP or eligible for TANF with work experience and work readiness
training opportunities.
Partnerships
JJAC is in a unique position of being the state’s central juvenile justice policy body. As such,
it has a responsibility to listen to and encourage other juvenile justice organizations. The
Second Chance Coalition, a coalition of 51 organizations advocating fair and responsible
laws, policies, and practices, allow those who have committed crimes to redeem
themselves, to fully support themselves and their families, and to contribute to their
communities with their full potential. The coalition is at the forefront of policy change. In
2010, the Second Chance Coalition was awarded the 2010 Nonprofit Mission Award for
Advocacy by the Minnesota Council on Nonprofits (see more about this partnership in
Recommendations).
JJAC also communicates and coordinates with the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association,
Juvenile Officers Association, Minnesota Community Corrections Association, Minnesota
Association of County Probation Officers, Minnesota Corrections Association, Minnesota
Association of Community Corrections Act Counties, and others. These agencies share their
ongoing work with JJAC.