Conclusion

Emerging Adult Justice remains a new area of study, practice, and advocacy, and there has been little research conducted on quantifiable outcomes of the innovations detailed in the Learning Community’s Key Elements series. Accordingly, designing and collecting outcome measurements is essential to inform and improve future programs and specialized probation. While specialized probation may ameliorate some of the most striking harms of the criminal legal system, specialized probation alone is insufficient to properly serve justice-involved emerging adults. Specialized probation should be adopted in tandem with efforts to reimagine all of the other aspects of the justice system – policing, prosecution, defense practices, sentencing, community-based services, supports and opportunities, parole, and re-entry – with the goal of supporting all justice-involved emerging adults so they can successfully mature into independent, healthy, productive adults engaged in the community.