This article is the first of a two-part series about best practices and reform in the juvenile justice system. Next week's piece will showcase North Carolina's effort to rehabilitate its youth and reform its system.

Ice cream trucks, playgrounds, and crust-less peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are typical, joyful times for most children, but those in the juvenile justice system can only wish that was their reality. Instead, they are creating memories of court hearings, detention sentences and drab days inside residential treatment centers.

Now experts are worrying that those kids who struggle with the downward spiral of a darker side to childhood and turn to crime as an outlet may find themselves facing punishments that don't always fit the crime.

“The recent trends we're seeing are a toughening up of the juvenile justice system,” says University of Louisville professor Richard Tewksbury, who specializes in corrections and general deviance research. “We are seeing a move in terms of policy and legislation towards more and more juveniles being placed in the adult system. I would say that is the opposite of a best practice.”

According to Tewksbury, this move is due to society's general feeling that all offenders deserve tough punishments. Additionally, he is concerned that many youngsters in the system are being labeled more dangerous than they are.

“The reality is that we have a very large segment of juvenile offenders who are status offenders,” he says. “They have committed property offenses or drug offenses. But that population of offenders needs an emphasis on treatment and reintegration into their communities, not a tough-on-crime stance.”

Although the juvenile justice population has been on the decline in recent years - reaching their lowest level since 1983 - experts like Tewksbury are raising awareness about juvenile justice reform amidst concerns that focusing on incarceration rather than rehabilitation will make these youth career criminals.

“These juveniles can be strongly influenced by positive role models and positive feedback. We have to remember that we are really dealing with children that, in many respects, need to be treated like children. A retribution approach hasn't been shown to work with offenders of any age, especially in formative years,” Tewksbury explains.

While some might argue that juveniles need to do serious time for their offenses, the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission is making progress with they type of positive reinforcement Tewksbury supports. Changing confinement policies and adding new vocational standards are two of the state's more important reforms.

“To make changes in juvenile justice, you really have to get your staff on board,” says NJJJC Executive Director Howard Beyer. “When you are trying to reform a system, it all starts with how the staff relates to the mission they have, and if they feel safe enough to pull that mission off.”

Other commission changes included a softer lockup policy. In New Jersey, it was standard practice for misbehaved kids to spend up to 30 days in solitary confinement. With Beyer's support, that policy has changed.

“We realized, through performance-based standards, that lockup sentences over five days really affected the mental status of a child,” explains Beyer. “Suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts increase dramatically during long periods of lockup. Now, we initiate lockup in hour segments instead of days.”

Vocational programming is another opportunity to improve juvenile justice. Tewksbury says helping kids spend their time learning a new skill dramatically increases their chances for success post-release, just like adult offenders. For Beyer, this practice has changed New Jersey's juvenile justice culture.

“We've really heightened the vocational programming here,” Beyer says proudly. “We're teaching our kids how to build houses, how to repair eyeglasses. We raise butterflies, we raise fish. We're teaching our kids how to use banking cards, how to repair cars, how to refurbish bikes. We've built an extraordinary program and our kids are responding.”

Tewksbury's recommendations are evident in Beyer's programming. New Jersey kids get to take advantage of a 1950's style sweet shop, complete with ice cream sundaes, hamburgers and pizzas.

Another crucial component of reform involves a new management style. Beyer says he constantly walks around facilities to show employees and kids that he is committed to the cause.

“You need to know about the positives and negatives,” Beyer explains. “You need to hear your staff complain and get excited. You have to be there for the ups and the downs. We need a culture of hope at the very base of reform, however. This is about talking to each other, working with each other. This is about collaboration and doing the best we can.”

Beyer says states considering a few tweaks to their juvenile justice system should maintain a ‘you gotta wanna' attitude.

“You gotta wanna make a difference,” Beyer says, “If not, all of your time will be wasted.”

Bottom Line: Adding vocational programs, improving staff morale and treating juveniles in age-appropriate ways can prevent young offenders from becoming adult offenders.