Reforming Youth Futures: Innovative Approaches to Juvenile Justice in Baguio City

This study determines the effectiveness of Baguio City's current juvenile justice policies and practices in dealing with youth offenses and promoting rehabilitation, including analyzing relevant data and statistics. It targets four areas: effectiveness of current juvenile justice policies and practices, challenges and issues faced by implementers, innovative approaches to juvenile justice in Baguio City, and community-based programs and restorative justice practices. The study used qualitative research design, particularly the case study method. The primary tool used was a validated interview guide. The selected participants were social workers of the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO). The participants are called informant 1, informant 2, and informant 3. Their office selected them based on their job specification, stay in the said office, and availability for the interview. In addition, they are the best source of information since they are the ones who are immersed in implementing intervention and rehabilitation programs in line with restorative justice. The informants shared their experiences as social workers, such as the challenges like non-cooperation of clients and families, shortage of workforce, bulky cases, financial shortages, lack of training, and non-compliance or poor compliance of clients. At the same time, they were also able to develop innovative approaches like using interns and technology. In several cases where intervention programs were processed and implemented, they could give a percentage to conclude that the programs they implemented were effective. Lastly, their community-based practices include visitation to other facilities and aftercare programs.