Emerging adults – individuals aged 17 to 24 – experience arrest and conviction at higher rates than their older peers. While extensive research suggests several explanatory reasons for this, emerging neuroscience suggests the one of the greatest explanatory reasons may be from brain development. Neuroscience suggests these individuals are cognitively distinct because their brain development, especially that which regulates decision making, emotional control, executive functioning, and impulse control, is still developing.

Currently, many community supervision agencies, like probation and parole, are responsible for supervising individuals aged 17 to 24 and providing support for this group to thrive while remaining in their own communities. However, in 2019, youth and young people accounted for 19% of Dallas County, Texas’ community supervision population, but accounted for more than a quarter, 27%, of their revocations – formal returns to jail. The emerging neuroscience suggests that preventing returns to jail and general rule breaking, while supporting behavior change will require developmentally appropriate programming which cognitively meets these young people where they are.

Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, JSP in combination with adult development expert Dr. Jessica Sales, is collaborating with the Dallas County, TX Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD) to provide technical assistance and evaluation on the implementation of their Emerging Adult Caseload Collaboration (EACC). This is a specialized community corrections caseload supervises young people who live in one of Dallas County’s five most historically disinvested and under resourced communities. Implementing and evaluating this model will advance evidence toward effective supervision strategies for emerging adults and aims to develop best practices that center individuals, especially vulnerable young people, who remain entangled in the criminal legal system.