To provide guidance to governors looking to advance juvenile justice reforms, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices convened leading national experts--state juvenile justice directors, governors' criminal justice policy advisors, governors' cabinet secretaries, juvenile justice experts and academics--to discuss the latest research on effective alternatives to incarceration. From that conversation emerged several recommendations for governors, including: (1) Safely transition away from and replace large correctional facilities, and establish a continuum of community-based alternatives that use new or redirected funding; (2) Provide a new vision for juvenile justice systems that promotes greater awareness of research on youth development, advocates for wider adoption of community-based alternatives and seeks a full continuum of care for youth and their families; and (3) Ensure effective cross-agency coordination and intergovernmental collaboration to support youth in communities and promote more effective resource allocation. This issue brief details those recommendations, identifies recent state efforts to adopt alternatives to incarceration and discusses effective approaches that governors can take to implement reform strategies.