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Douglas County receives OJJDP planning report recommending prevention, navigation and career-pathway priorities for youth
Summary
County staff presented a year-long Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) planning grant assessment that recommends three priority goals—navigation to community resources, youth life skills, and career pathways—after focus groups with hundreds of youth, families, providers and system actors.
Kim Havocati, deputy county administrator overseeing juvenile justice, presented the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention planning grant assessment to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners on July 8, 2025.
The report, awarded May 2024 under an OJJDP planning grant, summarizes a year of assessment work including focus groups with more than 170 community service providers, about 250 youth and over 200 families, and more than 100 legal and law enforcement personnel. Havocati said the process included an external facilitator and evaluator and produced an asset map and a strategic plan in draft form.
Why it matters: The planning grant aims to develop a sustainable, evidence-based continuum of care for at-risk and system-involved youth in Douglas County. Commissioners said the report’s findings—high absenteeism in school, elevated youth mental-health needs, and concentrated poverty in particular ZIP codes—underscore persistent system and community gaps that affect juvenile justice outcomes.
The assessment identified three prioritized goals: strengthen families’ ability to navigate community resources, improve youth life skills (both soft and hard skills), and expand access to career and workforce pathways. Havocati said the county’s strategic planning council has developed implementation steps and is drafting action items, with a fuller strategic plan and evaluation materials expected later in the year.
Havocati described findings from the county’s data review and community input. She cited the statewide youth risk assessment showing nearly 27 percent of youth reported feeling sad or hopeless and that 23 percent said their mental health was not good most of the time. She said juvenile justice case data show about 50 percent of youth in the county juvenile justice system have a diagnosed mental-health issue, and school-discipline data cited in the report show disparate suspension rates by race.
Commissioners pressed for details on funding, metrics and implementation. Commissioner Tim Cavanaugh asked that a separate grants summary be attached to the report; he referenced a list of federal and state grants discussed during the meeting. Commissioner Fahey requested the underlying data sources and an appendix identifying which organizations contributed focus-group information; Havocati said a more comprehensive report and appendices will be released by December to meet grant and public-record requirements.
Public commenters and several commissioners emphasized transportation, availability of affordable extracurricular activities and mentorship shortages as barriers identified by youth and families. The report’s asset map—being developed in partnership with United Way of the Midlands and other providers—will be combined with a searchable on-line resource as part of the implementation work.
Havocati said the grant-funded work included convening a Juvenile Justice Advisory Council and that implementation, communication and evaluation steps are underway. She told the board the planning grant’s purpose was to "assist jurisdictions in planning and assessing evidence based prevention and intervention services to develop a continuum of care for at risk and system involved youth."
