States are selected to participate in the the program through a competitive application process. The strongest applicants have:

• A history of juvenile justice reforms,
• Commitment to quality system improvements,
• An existing validated risk assessment instrument in at least the demonstration county/jurisdiction, with progress being made to expand the risk assessment statewide,
• A needs assessment procedure in place,
• The capacity to collect data over a sustained period of time through an existing information system in order to collaborate in the SPEP scoring and data collection process,
• A basic framework for a continuum of graduated sanctions/services, and
• The willingness to use research to maximize program outcomes and inform future funding decisions.

These criteria ensure that the selected states are ready and able to implement the reforms proposed by the JJSIP. Based on this criteria, CJJR has selected Arizona, Connecticut, Florida and Pennsylvania to implement the JJSIP.

Teams from the selected states will participate in the five-day training program at Georgetown University and an intensive 18-month technical assistance process on how to implement the JJSIP in their jurisdiction. The goal will be to focus initially on one large demonstration jurisdiction/county in each state and later disseminate the initiative statewide.

A maximum of eight representatives from each state will participate in the training at Georgetown University. Teams will consist of both state and local level representatives, which can include, but not be limited to:

• Directors, deputies and/or managers from probation and corrections,
• Staff responsible for training,
• Staff responsible for data collection and quality assurance,
• A member of the judiciary, and
• Directors or managers from service providers or a representative of service providers.

This eight-member team will be the core implementation team, with a much larger group of stakeholders to be engaged later, during the beginning of the technical assistance phase.