Minor Discrepancies: Forging a Common Understanding of Adolescent Competence in Healthcare Decision-Making and Criminal Responsibility
By Kimberly M. Mutcherson 

Abstract: This article seeks to understand the divide between those who advocate for a broad belief in adolescent competence in the realm of healthcare decision-making and those who advocate for a broad belief in adolescent incompetence in criminal law. After detailing various ways of under-standing competence for adolescents and delineating how advocates and the Supreme Court have dealt with these issues, the article explores the possibility that contrasting views of adolescent com-petence are quite compatible.  The author argues that the milieu in which young people make decisions, i.e., in formal versus informal settings, demonstrably affects the quality of the decision-making process. As such, it is logical to conclude that the decision-making process in formal healthcare settings leads to better decisions that the law should support than is the case in the infor-mal settings in which young people decide to participate in criminal activities.

Public Safety Outcomes of Virginia's Detention Assessment Instrument
By Scott Reiner, Jared B. Miller, and Tripti Gangal

Abstract: The placement of juveniles in secure detention has been the subject of considerable attention recently. For the past several years, Virginia has been engaged in efforts to improve detention practices at both the state and local levels. One important policy and practice change is the implementation of a standardized, structured decision-making instrument to guide detention decisions by intake officers of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). This report will present a brief background on the Detention Assessment Instrument (DAI); an analysis of the performance of the DAI on key public safety outcomes; and an overview of Virginia's participation in the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI).

Aftercare Reality and Reform
By Patrick Griffin, Richard Steele, and Kelly Franklin

Abstract: Aftercare is widely acknowledged to be a weak link in the juvenile justice continuum. This report describes Pennsylvania’s recent efforts to envision and articulate a comprehensive aftercare system, to assess current local variations in aftercare practice in light of that vision, and to bring about the state- and county-level reforms that will make comprehensive aftercare a reality statewide.