Blog: Juvenile Justice Reform

Juvenile Justice Reform

• New Campaign Seeks to Sharply Reduce Youth Incarceration (JJIE)
  A national juvenile justice campaign launched today with the ambitious goals of halving youth incarceration in 15 states over the next five years while expanding community-based alternatives for offenders.

• New York Under Pressure For Locking Up Teens In Adult Prisons (KQED)
  New York is one of only two states that still locks up 16- and 17-year-olds in adult prisons. A commission report released this week found that those young people — most of them black and Hispanic — face a high risk of assault and victimization behind bars and an increased risk of suicide. Gov. Andrew Cuomo now says he'll push the legislature to raise the age of adult incarceration to 18, a move that could mean the transfer of more than 800 teenagers out of state correctional facilities.

• On Martin Luther King Day, Police Reform Advocates Take Message to United Nations (Newsweek)
  The #Dream4Justice March was organized by Justice League NYC, which describes itself as “a task force of juvenile and criminal justice advocates, artists and experts, and formerly incarcerated individuals.”

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

• Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

• Public Health Approach Being Adapted for Kids in Trouble with Substances, the Law (JJIE)
  Many of the kids in juvenile detention with substance abuse disorders get poor or no treatment, according to Reclaiming Futures, a nonprofit that helps young people in trouble with drugs, alcohol and crime. It’s now experimenting with a public health approach to the situation.

• Parties hopeful meeting cleared air on youth drug court in Jacksonville (Jacksonville.com)
  A plan to improve years of low participation in Jacksonville’s juvenile drug court could be finalized in as little as 30 days. The federal government sent four experts to Jacksonville on Wednesday and Thursday to meet with key players in the court and help with program implementation.

• Training helps social workers, counselors give teens skills to abstain from drugs, tobacco, alcohol use (Kentucky.com)
  Actively listening, being willing to innovate, strategically guiding teens to discover their own solutions were among the many suggestions Riggs, a national recognized expert in addiction, shared with 45 social workers, counselors and others already working in substance abuse this week in Kentucky.

A new toolkit, published by the Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit (CBAU) at the Vera Institute of Justice, will help guide government agencies as they assess their justice investments: Cost-Benefit Analysis and Justice Policy Toolkit.

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is an evaluation technique that compares the costs of programs with the benefits they deliver—allowing agencies to determine the best use of budget regarding justice policies and programs.

Advocates of juvenile justice reform can use CBA briefs to spark change, as the briefs can serve as concrete examples to share with policy and decision makers when encouraging investments.

This new toolkit outlines the six fundamental steps of conducting a CBA:

1. Identify the investment’s potential impacts.
2. Quantify the investment’s impacts.
3. Determine marginal costs.
4. Calculate costs, benefits, and net present value.
5. Test the assumptions.
6. Report the results.

The toolkit provides real word lessons and examples from six municipal, county, and state agencies in each step and is designed to guide justice analysts, especially those who are new to CBA.

Note: This project was supported by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.

An upcoming Spotlight on Youth webinar: “Remove the Shackles and Help Kids Succeed” will explore the practice of shackling, why it is harmful to our young people in the juvenile justice system, and how the practice can be removed altogether.

The webinar will take place on Jan. 16 and include guests with expert insight on this topic:

• Judge Jay D. Blitzman, First Justice-Massachusetts Juvenile Court, Middlesex Division
• John D. Elliott, Private Attorney, Columbia, SC
• David A. Shapiro, Campaign Manager, Campaign Against Indiscriminate Juvenile Shackling, National Juvenile Defender Center

Those that are aware of the practice have long questioned shackling in the juvenile justice system, and several counties have ongoing efforts to remove it: In Miami-Dade County, more than 20,000 youth appeared in court without shackles between 2006 and 2011—no one escaped or was harmed after shackling was removed.

Unfortunately, many are unaware that teens are often brought from detention and correctional facilities to juvenile court in leg irons, belly chains and handcuffs—before they are charged with any wrongdoing.

On this Jan. 16 episode of Spotlight on Youth, guests will describe the national movement to end the indiscriminate practice, and share their personal efforts and experiences in changing the norm for kids in juvenile court.

To listen in, visit Spotlight on Youth five minutes before the scheduled start time. Listeners are invited and encouraged to ask questions live on the air: call (347)994-1149 and push number 1 on your keypad.

When: Jan. 16, 2015

• 3-4 p.m. Eastern
• 2-3 p.m. Central
• 1-2 p.m Mountain
• 12-1 p.m. Pacific

Spotlight on Youth is a radio show that focuses on social and legal trends impacting the rights and well-being of young people. Spotlight on Youth is hosted by the Children's Law Center, Inc., a not-for-profit legal services organization dedicated to children's rights issues.

Among all of the discussions regarding inequities in our legal system, there is one impacted group that is continually left out—survivors of violence and trauma. Common Justice—a Vera Institute of Justice victim service and alternative-to-incarceration program—recently released an issue brief to spark efforts to change this: Young Men of Color and the Other Side of Harm: Addressing Disparities in Our Response to Violence.

Common Justice released this brief to raise awareness of this “often overlooked” group of victims, who are often young men of color, and to inspire further local and nationwide efforts to provide the support and services this group needs.

The brief provides background and history of this group and the issues surrounding them, why this matters for juvenile justice, the barriers to support for victims, and suggestions for future improvements. Highlights of the brief include the following:

• Data from 1996 through 2007 revealed that young black men were the most likely to be robbed every year, most likely to be victimized by violence overall in six of the 11 years, and second most likely to be victimized in four of the 11 years.

• Victims of violence experience negative, lasting impacts in regard to health, education, employment, finances, and future safety.

• Stark misperceptions about what a “victim of crime” is among this group contributes to the lack of support. A 2008 Vera study: “When asked broadly if they had been “victims of crime,” they all responded no. However, when asked whether they had “had something taken from them by force or been robbed,” nine of the 10 [study participants] said yes.”

• Current victim services lack access to services for primary needs (as determined by victims), which include “help securing employment, getting back to school or into GED programs, and developing tools to end the gang involvement or resolve the neighborhood-based conflicts that put them in harm’s way.”

• Negative experiences with law enforcement significantly reduce likelihood that a victim will report the crime; the most recent study revealed that unreported violent crimes increased by 130 percent from 2011-2012.

Efforts to improve services and support provided to victims of crime and trauma are growing—especially for young men of color. In the last few years, a number of programs and platforms have surfaced that are dedicated to this issue, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Forward Promise initiative, the National Network of Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs, the Institute for Black Male Achievement, and the White House’s recently launched My Brother’s Keeper.

Common Justice is also developing a learning collaborative for people and organizations who are or could be working with young men of color who have been harmed by violence.

For more information, read the nine-page brief and visit the Common Justice website.

More than 250,000 people watched and cheered from the sidelines at the annual Thanksgiving Sun Bowl Parade in El Paso, Texas, where more than 100 “gaming mania” themed parade floats, marching bands, giant helium balloons, equestrian units and more glided down the street. Among them, the Challenge Explorers Float, whose Angry Birds themed float took home the Governor’s Award for Best Presentation of the Parade’s Theme.

The teens who constructed the Challenge Explorers Float from the ground up are part of El Paso County’s Challenge Academy, a residential Reclaiming Futures program that is part of its continuum of care and an extension of El Paso’s pro-social activities for youth. These young men and women have been through the juvenile justice system, and oftentimes do community service as part of the Academy’s activities. Building a parade float—from concept development to construction to walking in the parade—offered participants the opportunity to get involved in their local community, and collaborate with staff and family.

“Oftentimes these kids have been outcasts most of their lives, and don’t know what it’s like to be a part of something bigger and be successful at it. To start a project from nothing, come together as a unit and produce a product that wins awards is instrumental in building self-confidence,” says Director of the Challenge Academy, Sam Heredia.

El Paso’s Juvenile Probation Department was extremely involved and committed to fundraising, coordinating activities throughout the year like selling popcorn, candy gram sales and ice cream float gatherings to raise money for materials and construction. Families of the teens also got involved as part of the Academy’s family reintegration program, donating supplies and working alongside them to build the award-winning float. The collaborated effort meant that not a dime of taxpayer or county money was spent.

Roger Martinez, Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, explains: “This initiative is an example of our response to the A&E show Beyond Scared Straight. We’re learning more and more through programs like the El Paso County Challenge Academy that positive reinforcement actually has a longer lasting impact. In this case, these teens were acknowledged in a positive way by their community, which has the potential to change their mindsets and lead them to become active community members once more.”

Since its inception in 2008, El Paso County Juvenile Justice Center has embraced Reclaiming Futures’ systems change approach through community collaborations and partnerships, which have served juvenile justice youth and families through continued services beyond treatment. These collaborations have expanded to include collaboration with the local FBI Office, Homeland Security and the Sheriff’s Department, in which members of these agencies volunteer their time to act as mentors to youth in the El Paso County Drug Court Program. Members also volunteer their own time to accompany juvenile justice youth to a local gym to teach alternatives to substance use and promote healthier drug free lifestyles.

Tapping into the creative side of juvenile justice involved youth, El Paso County partners with local artists and businesses for contributions, incorporating art into to the educational curriculum utilized by Delta Academy (El Paso Independent School District) or as a catalyst for these youth to express themselves without the need to engage in substance use.

El Paso County is a great example of strong community collaborations and systems change. We are proud to share their accomplishments and look forward to seeing what they strive for next.

Vera Institute of Justice has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for corrections departments in search of safe alternatives to segregation, also referred to as solitary confinement.

Solitary confinement is a controversial and often debated topic in the realm of juvenile justice as teens that are segregated often experience mental health and behavioral problems—as well as a higher rate of recidivism upon release.

In the spotlight this year regarding its practices of solitary confinement was Rikers Island. Conditions at Rikers have been described as “horrific” and were condemned by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York this August, who stated that the use of solitary confinement for youths was “excessive and inappropriate.”

There is growing nation-wide support to eliminate solitary confinement entirely as evidence suggests it is an expensive and counterproductive policy for facilities and public safety.

Vera Institute of Justice, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, is now offering five state or local corrections systems a chance to explore and implement an alternative to solitary confinement as part of its new Safe Alternatives to Segregation (SAS) Initiative.

The goals of the initiative include the following:

• Assist states and counties in reducing their use of segregation;
• Develop, demonstrate, and evaluate alternatives to disciplinary, administrative, and protective custody segregation;
• Raise awareness across all correctional institutions nationwide—prisons and jails—of alternatives to segregation;
• Conduct evaluations and impact studies and make their findings known across the corrections field; and
• Produce practitioner-focused guides to implementing alternative practices.

The SAS initiative expands on Vera’s Segregation Reduction Project, which has worked with corrections departments since 2010 in states including Washington, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania to reduce reliance on segregation.

Applications will be accepted through Jan. 30, 2015. To learn more about the SAS initiative, including the full RFP and guidelines to submitting an application, visit Vera’s website.

The Juvenile Law Center, a public interest law firm in Philadelphia, issued a “report card” this week demonstrating that the records of juvenile offenders are more easily available to the public than they should be, creating obstacles to future success for many teens.

Juvenile records contain details about a child’s family, social history, mental health history, substance abuse history, education, and involvement with the law. According to the Juvenile Law Center’s new national scorecard, the majority of states lack the protections necessary to keep this information confidential. Instead, many states allow these records to be accessed by the media, employers, government agencies and victims, which can create future barriers to housing, education and employment for teen offenders.

Failed Policies, Forfeited Futures: A Nationwide Scorecard on Juvenile Records is the first comprehensive evaluation of state policies that govern the confidentiality and expungement of juvenile court records. No state earned the maximum five-star rating, and the national average was three out of the possible five stars.

These records often remain open to allow courts, correction officials and juvenile agencies to plan a course of treatment and rehabilitation; however, few states have systems that prohibit the public from accessing these records later on.

“There is a misperception that juvenile records are confidential and automatically destroyed when a youth is no longer under court supervision,” said Riya Saha Shah, an attorney at the Juvenile Law Center and architect of the study. “Permanent open records are like a ball and chain that prevent young people from becoming productive adults.”

Of the many teens arrested in the U.S. each year, 95 percent are for nonviolent offenses, meaning these young people were never a threat to public safety and often do not have further trouble with the law. Yet, these nonviolent records can negatively impact the rest of their adult life when viewed by potential employers, landlords or college admissions offices.

To prevent these negative impacts, the Juvenile Law Center has 10 recommendations to help keep juvenile records from affecting teens’ adult life:

• Records should not be widely available online.
• Records should be sealed to the public before they are expunged.
• Records should be automatically sealed and expunged.
• Expungement should include physical destruction and electronic deletion.
• Expungement eligibility should begin once a case is closed.
• All offenses should be eligible for expungement.
• One entity should be designated to inform youth about the expungement.
• Forms for expungement should be youth-friendly.
• Filing for expungement should be free.
• There should be sanctions for failure to comply.

The Juvenile Law Center also encouraged policymakers, states, attorneys, and court personnel to review juvenile record laws and protections and look for ways to improve them.

In the national scope of evidence-supported juvenile justice “reforms”, a question is often posed as to which approach or model makes the most sense to potential adopters. Or said another way, can we avoid “model fatigue” by adopting one reform methodology that gets us the best results with the most cost effective strategies?

The role of family and mentors in any teen’s life contributes to their success and healthy Reclaiming Futures Programfuture. The role of family and mentors for teens in the juvenile justice system or a juvenile correctional facility is even more critical.

Family engagement in the juvenile justice system is not a new concept, but it is a key component to ensuring at-risk teens stay clear of substance abuse and crime. A recent Juvenile Justice Information Exchange article addresses this need in youth detention centers:

“Experts, supported by a small but growing body of research, say fostering family engagement improves incarcerated youths’ behavior, helps families feel more connected, reduces disciplinary incidents and boosts the staff morale.”

“Moreover, strengthening these connections better prepares youths for a return to the community upon release — most return to their family homes — and reduces repeat offenses.”

While the author Gary Gately does identify some successful programs where family involvement and treatment are front and center, he shares that most systems nationally are more focused on punishment, and oftentimes there exists a contentious relationship between family members and juvenile facility staff members.

Reclaiming Futures’ sites work with a wide variety of community members and resources to contribute to youth success as they remain in their community. Led by the community fellow(s), sites link youth to mentors, education, employment, job training, hobbies, sports, volunteer opportunities, faith communities, and other prosocial activities of interest to youth.

As we’ve seen among Reclaiming Futures sites who have achieved success with this strategy, family involvement and mentors should be closely integrated into a teen’s life for optimal results. For example, Reclaiming Futures in Santa Cruz is taking preventative action with a partnership with Hands on Fatherhood, encouraging fathers and father-figures to create meaningful relationships with their kids. Also, Reclaiming Futures in Snohomish County saw success with its Promising Arts in Recovery program, which added a mentorship and creative arts component to treatment, resulting in substance-free teens who become productive members of their communities.

Gately shares some wonderful examples of successful family integration efforts around the country. Those, paired with Reclaiming Futures’ efforts to connect teens with support systems during and after exiting the juvenile justice system, are pioneering the way to a deeper systemic impact that can hopefully lead to communities and facilities committed to full family and community engagement.