Put Data to Work for You
PbS is a data-driven continuous improvement process for juvenile justice facilities, community residential programs and reentry services to improve conditions and quality of life in our nation’s juvenile facilities. We offer research-based standards and performance measures that focus on:
Making Facilities Safe
Public safety and the safety of the youths, staff and visitors is the primary responsibility of confinement facilities. PbS standards and performance data focus on management practices that promote safety and wellbeing and minimize the risks of harm.
Monitoring Program Effectiveness
The challenge for youth facility leaders is to provide programming and services that both keep youths engaged and out of trouble and puts them on the path to becoming productive, purposeful citizens. PbS standards and performance measures focus on education and employment opportunities, health and behavioral health services and building life skills and competencies.
Achieving Positive Outcomes
Time in custody can and should be a catchment opportunity to help youths prepare to return to living with their families and community. PbS standards and performance measures focus on what research has shown are the most likely outcomes to prevent reoffending and give youths a meaningful second chance when they leave.
See it in action
Success Stories
Watch to see how facilities nationwide use PbS to measure and drive continuous improvement in their operations each day.
REDUCE REOFFENDING
Juvenile Reentry
Youths leaving juvenile justice facilities and programs face barriers and challenges that must be addressed before they reenter their communities, families, schools and jobs in order for them to succeed.
It is truly amazing the culture change that PbS has fostered at our facility. As you know, PbS is a big endeavor but oh my is it ever worth it!
Connecting Juvenile Justice Professionals
Growing Community
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Blog
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Reentry – The Importance of Hearing From Young People
April 26-30 is National Reentry Week, placing special focus on the importance of reentry and supporting and preparing young people to start afresh successfully and fulfil their potential. PbS added the voices of young people leaving facilities during 2020 to the discussion and showed the importance of hearing directly from them about their readiness and preparation for reentry.
Understanding Reentry Through Data
Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Very little has changed for young people when they leave juvenile justice facilities. They return to their communities to face the same disadvantages, discrimination and barriers that they struggled with previously, and which likely resulted in their system involvement: unstable living situations, difficulties with school, poverty and lack of access to the basic necessities needed for healthy adolescent development. Their situation becomes more challenging when they leave because their involvement with juvenile justice makes it even harder for them to get back into school, get hired for a job, enlist in the military or be eligible for public housing.
PbS Announces 2021 Reentry Award for Youths
The Performance-based Standards (PbS) Reentry Award was established in 2016 to support youths as they return to living in the community. Recipients are given a gift card for a nearby department store to purchase household items, linens, clo ...
Kim Godfrey Lovett: Starting Each Day With a Grateful Heart
Inspired by all the women who shared their stories with PbS in celebration of Women’s History Month, and to honor all women in juvenile justice, I share my answers to the questions we asked of them.