Youth involved in juvenile legal systems and those who are at risk for delinquency often report high levels of trauma. The Restorative and Transformative Justice (RTJ) for Youths and Communities Pilot Program, located in four counties of New Jersey, is an initiative to provide educational, employment, mental health, substance abuse, life skills, mentoring, and social services to system-involved and at-risk youth. Examining the effectiveness of the RTJ Hubs may improve the quality of services, especially for youth who have had high levels of trauma. Our mixed method approach includes surveys completed via Qualtrics and in-person Photovoice groups in which data will be collected at baseline and 3, 6, and 9-month benchmark follow-ups that assess behavior and attitudes. The expected findings are that RTJ Hubs will positively impact domains of social support, civic engagement, trauma responses, and restorative justice attitudes, especially for system-involved youth with high adverse childhood experience scores. This study is presumed to benefit youth participants re-entering society after detention, prevent at-risk youth from initial justice system contact, improve connections with local law enforcement, and positively impact the larger community. Overall, we foresee positive impacts on youth behavioral health concerning violence, delinquency, and criminality improving safety, security, and health.
