The Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice (RFK National Resource Center), recently announced the release of the Probation System Review Guidebook, 3rd Edition, in support of states and jurisdictions embracing the transformation of probation and juvenile justice policy and practice across the United States.

The new release features the framework that the RFK National Resource Center has used to achieve substantial improvements in youth outcomes and system performance, in partnership with twenty-five jurisdictions across nearly one-third of the states and territories. The latest edition includes:

• An increased focus on the translation of adolescent development into practice;
• Renewed emphasis on resiliency and positive youth development;
• Improved and updated tools and guidance related to risk-needs-responsivity instruments that support data driven and informed practice;
• Addition of a probation orders analysis and court observation methodologies;
• Specific benefits to undertaking a system review;
• New information about the RFK National Resource Center’s Training Institute;
• Updated jurisdictional examples and lessons learned;
• Testimonials by probation and juvenile justice leaders who have undertaken the review, and achieved more positive outcomes for the youth they serve.