Youth Criminal Legal Reform
CoLab engages in system and multi-sector projects to improve the responsiveness of existing juvenile justice practices to youth developmental needs as well as working to build upstream community capacity to avoid criminal legal process altogether, when possible.
Our Work Advancing Youth Criminal Legal Reform
Youth Wellness Hubs
Youth Wellness Hubs are locally run entities that improve coordination between different community organizations addressing or affected by child and family mental health needs. CoLab is currently conducting a study that aims to evaluate the feasibility of the Youth Wellness Hub model through a pilot site based in Parkland, Washington.
Accelerating Research Use in Courts (ARC)
With growing calls for justice systems, especially juvenile justice systems, to integrate developmental and behavioral health science within all aspects of the justice process, it is critical to develop a standardized measure of how individuals use research evidence within these systems. With ARC, CoLab is developing and testing a new tool for measuring the use of research evidence in a sample of juvenile court leaders across multiple states. Learn more, here.
Opportunity Based Probation (OBP)
CoLab partners with Pierce County to facilitate the implementation and preliminary analysis of the OBP program, wherein youth create meaningful goals and incentives that reward prosocial behavior. Learn more, here.
Housing Stability for Youth (H-SYNC)
H-SYNC is a prevention tool for youth homelessness developed by the CoLab team in collaboration with workgroups in Snohomish and Kitsap Counties. The model uses routine practices already embedded in court systems to automatically identify and refer youth and families to needed prevention/intervention services. Learn more, here.
Community Curriculum Codesign
CoLab is working on a capacity building initiative to co-create therapeutic interventions alongside community partners using research translation and design-oriented activities.