Mission, Vision, and History

Mission Statement

As stakeholders in the pursuit of juvenile and child-welfare reform, we strive to advance the justice system by raising awareness, developing solutions, securing resources, and advocating for the vulnerable. Our charge is to continually improve the justice system as it relates to children, youth, and families. 

Vision Statement

The Commission's role is to ensure that all children, youth, and their families have the resources for the best possible outcome when involved in the judicial system. 

Commission History and Accomplishments

In 2011, the Supreme Court of Arkansas created the Commission on Children, Youth and Families to study how children and families in Arkansas interact with the court system. The Commission works with stakeholders across the state to identify areas of need and improves the way the court system serves children and families. While focusing on juvenile justice and dependency-neglect proceedings, the Commission’s work also includes any court proceeding that involves children.

In 2014, the Commission chose to focus on juvenile justice reform in Arkansas and adopted the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center’s White Paper titled Core Principles for Reducing Recidivism and Improving Other Youth Outcomes*. The Core Principles adopted are:

I. Basing supervision, service, and resource-allocation decisions on the results of validated risk and needs assessments.

II. Adopting and effectively implementing programs and services demonstrated to reduce recidivism and improve other youth outcomes, and using data to evaluate the results and direct system improvements.

III. Employing a coordinated approach across service systems to address youths’ needs.

IV. Tailoring system policies, programs, and supervision to reflect the distinct developmental needs of adolescents.

The Commission’s work has resulted in the following achievements as related to each Core Principle:

Principle I. Basing supervision, service, and resource-allocation decisions on a validated risk and needs assessments.

• In 2015, the Commission obtained a grant and began a pilot program to implement use of a validated risk and needs assessments in Faulkner, Craighead, Crittenden, and Pulaski counties.
• In 2017, Governor Asa Hutchinson provided funding for the cost of the assessment and allowed the expansion of the pilot program.
• In 2017, the General Assembly approved the Administrative Office of the Court’s addition of a staff position to continue training and expansion of the pilot program.
• In 2018, Arkansas participated in the validation of the OYAS, thus obtaining the first validated risk assessment for diversion in delinquency cases.
• In 2018, the AOC developed an app to simplify the risk assessment data entry.
• In 2019, the General Assembly passed legislation to mandate use of a validated risk assessment in certain instances.
• In 2020, the AOC completed the state-wide training of all courts and juvenile officers on use of the validated risk assessments.

Principle Two: Adopting and implementing programs and services demonstrated to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes and use data to evaluate results and system improvements.

• Faulkner County’s pilot worked extensively with the AOC to track data and evaluate results.
• Since implementation of the pilot program in 2015 and its subsequent expansion, commitment of youths to the Department of Youth Services has been reduced by 35%.
• The Department of Youth Services committed to base community service funding on evidence-based or similar proven successful programs.
• In 2020, the Commission agreed on a uniform definition of recidivism. This uniform definition will allow data tracking and comparison.

Principle Three: Employing a coordinated approach across service systems to address youths’ needs.

• In conjunction with Department of Education Director Johnny Key, who is also a Commissioner, the Commission developed a legal authorization form to coordinate access between courts and schools in order to improve the educational needs of juveniles who are involved in delinquency cases.
• The Department of Youth Services and AOC have worked diligently on shared data of juveniles.
• In 2020, the Department of Youth Services has begun training its staff to use the same validated risk assessment tool as the judiciary to coordinate results and assessments.

Principle Four: Tailoring system policies, programs, and supervision to reflect the distinct developmental needs of adolescents.

• In 2017, the Commission obtained a grant to evaluate the juvenile probation services in the state. Based on the results, the AOC developed a model certification and training program along with best practices for juvenile officers. The AOC restructured juvenile officer training to include the assessment tools.
• In 2018, the Commission expanded its membership to include additional stakeholders. The Juvenile Division Director and Division of Youth Services Director were added as standing members. In 2019, the legislative representatives were increased to two in order to increase representation from the legislative branch. Also, the Commission added a full-time administrator to help manage the Commission’s growth and increased responsibilities in heading the judicial branch’s reform efforts for court-involved youths.
• In 2018, the Commission created Committees to address juvenile officer staffing and compensation, data collection and analysis, and access to community resources.
• In 2019, the Commission undertook a special project to create bench guides for best practice when children testify in court. Those guides were distributed across the state in 2020.
• In 2019, the Commission began a special project to determine whether videoconferencing in court hearings involving children could improve outcomes for children in foster care. The Commission began a pilot project in two courts in 2020.