Blog: No bio box

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Juvenile Justice Should be a Focus for Georgia (AlbanyHerald.com)
  In her final State of the Judiciary address before the General Assembly today, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol Hunstein is expected to focus on an issue that needs serious thought — juvenile justice.
• [AUDIO] When Crime Pays: Prison Can Teach Some To Be Better Criminals (NPR.org)
  In popular lore — movies, books and blogs — criminals who go to prison don't come out reformed. They come out worse. Scientists who have attempted to empirically analyze this theory have reached mixed conclusions, with analyses suggesting that activities like drug addiction or gangs are what determines whether the correctional system actually gets criminals to correct their ways.
• Mapping Juvenile Justice (TheCrimeReport.org)
  A new mapping project demonstrates overlaps between New York City communities with the highest percentage of youth, the lowest household incomes, rates of foster care placement and adults without high school diplomas.
• GA Police Chief to Serve on Juvenile Justice Board (CBSAtlanta.com)
  The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice has announced Elaine Snow, chief of the City of Rome Police Department, has been named vice chair of the agency's board. Snow is filling a board position that was left vacant by Avery Niles after Gov. Nathan Deal named him as Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner.
• Gov. Dayton appoints the first Minnesota Somali Woman to Serve on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee (TCDailyPlanet.net)
  Saciido Shaie has long had a dream that her thoughts and actions would one day become a reason for Minnesota youth to excel in education and life. That’s why she’s spent many years of leadership and advocacy in building a better place for Twin Cities’ young minorities. Minnesota took a note of her passion in activism, and so did Governor Mark Dayton. He appointed her last June as the first Somali woman to serve on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee for Minneapolis.
• Suffer the Children (The Economist)
  On March 29th 2012 Georgia’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on a criminal-justice reform bill that read like a left-leaning criminologist’s fantasy. It revised sentencing laws to keep non-violent drug and property offenders out of prison, directing them instead toward alternatives—drug courts, day-reporting centres, mental-health courts—designed to treat and rehabilitate rather than punish. Now Georgia is looking to do something similar for juveniles.

In 2007, Models for Change-Pennsylvania set out to address the roles of families in the juvenile justice system. The multidisciplinary workgroup included both family advocacy and juvenile justice leadership. The Innovation Brief: Strengthening the Role of Families in Juvenile Justice, outlines the goals and process Pennsylvania took to achieve their three overarching goals:
 

1. Align with the philosophies of Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system and the state’s family advocacy network.
2. Integrate with ongoing system reform emerging from Models for Change-Pennsylvania.
3. Design and implement a strategic model that authentically includes the voices of all stakeholders, advances evidence- based approaches, and produces measurable and sustainable change.

Before Pennsylvania's formal family involvement training was put in place, only about 51% of participants felt that the benefits of family involvement in the court process outweighed the drawbacks. After, nearly 80% felt that family involvement was good for the court process:

In Forsyth County (NC), District Court Judge Denise Hartsfield uses pineapples to offer system-involved teens a fresh start. She keeps the pineapples on the bench to remind teens of the court's role in their lives. Speaking to the Winston-Salem Chronicle, Judge Hartsfield explained:

“Since the pilgrims came in colonial days, the pineapple has been a symbol that means welcome,” she said. “I want everyone to feel welcome and to be very comfortable on this journey… There are going to be some slips – there are going to be some falls – but the pineapple tells us that we’re all welcome here and we’re all working together.”
Hartsfield likened the teens to the fruit, which she said has a “rough, prickly” exterior, but “what’s inside is fleshy, juicy, sweet and absolutely wonderful.” Hartsfield told the youth that many of the defendants who come before her – both young and old – land in her courtroom because of an alcohol or drug addiction.
“One of the goals that I would have is trying to make sure that you never have to see adult court,” she said. “…I anticipate that we’re going to have a great deal of pineapples in here, and we’re going to celebrate some folks.”

It's time for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) annual 2012 Year in Research campaign. RWJF identified 20 articles published in 2012 that represent the "best of the best" and needs your help in choosing the top five. 
The articles range from mental health to coronary heart disease and medicare. Readers of this blog may be especially interested in:

• A Community Outreach and Education Model for Early Identification of Mental Illness in Young People
• Advancing Recovery: Implementing Evidence-Based Treatment
• Pay-for-Performance Programs to Reduce Racial/Ethnic Disparities
• Student Access to Competitive Foods in Elementary Schools

Read the articles and cast your vote by February 15, 2013!
And for those on Twitter, share your thoughts via #RWJFFinal5.

Today marks the beginning of Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Given that 1 in 3 young people will experience some form of dating abuse, it's important to speak out against dating violence and share resources for those who need help.

According to the National Resource Center for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TeenDVmonth), dating violence includes:

Despite snow, ice, fog and temperatures around 15 degrees on January 25, nearly 70 leaders interested in juvenile justice reform, adolescent substance abuse treatment, public policy and philantropy gathered at the Columbus Foundation in Columbus, Ohio, to learn about Reclaiming Futures, a proven model for helping teens break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime.
We were joined by Harvey Reed, Director of Ohio Department of Youth Services, to discuss how to unite probation officers, judges, substance abuse treatment professionals and community members to help teens in the justice system.
The following counties expressed interest in the technical assistance, training, webinars, leadership institutes, fellowship support and coaching available to members of the Reclaiming Futures community:

• Coshocton
• Franklin
• Henry
• Logan
• Marion
• Perry
• Pickaway
• Drake

The US Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) are seeking applications for funding for the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program. The program is designed to increase public safety and improve access to effective treatment for people with mental illnesses involved with the criminal justice system by facilitating collaboration among the criminal justice, juvenile justice, mental health treatment and substance abuse systems. Each grantee is given the opportunity to tailor their programming to respond best to the particular needs of their community.
The BJA welcomes applications from local and state governments, federally recognized Indian tribes, and tribal organizations. Applicants must demonstrate that both a government agency responsible for criminal or juvenile justice activities and a mental health provider will administer the proposed project.
Applications are due by 11:59 pm ET on March 25, 2013. Apply here!

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Department of Juvenile Justice Strengthens Oversight (PNJ.com)
  In the wake of allegations of abuse by staffers at a girls’ lockup in Milton, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice is tightening its oversight of private residential facilities — adding interviews with youths and a partnership with the nonprofit Annie E. Casey Foundation to its monitoring procedures.
• Nebraska Chief Justice: Guardianship, Juvenile Probation Initiatives Show Success (Omaha.com)
  Tighter court oversight of guardians and conservators in recent months has exposed cases of theft and misuse of funds, Nebraska's top judge said Thursday. Chief Justice Michael Heavican said changes to state law made in 2011 are providing more protection for vulnerable adults in Nebraska.
• Georgia Governor: $5 Million for New Juvenile Diversions (JJIE.org)
  Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is asking the state legislature to spend $5 million dollars to set up community diversion programs for low-risk youth offenders, on the model of other states. The appropriation would “create an incentive funding program” to encourage communities to treat appropriate youth at home, Deal told lawmakers at his annual State of the State address on Jan. 17.
• Florida Tightening Juvenile Justice Monitoring (WCTV.tv)
  Florida is tightening monitoring and improving the quality of juvenile justice residential and detention facilities. Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Wansley Walters announced the new efforts on Friday. They come nearly a month after a privately owned facility for girls in the Florida Panhandle agreed to end its contract following the arrest of a staff member who was accused of battering a 15-year-old inmate.
• Study: Minority Youth in Wash. Arrested, Referred to Juvenile Court More Often than Whites (TheRepublic.com)
  Minority youth are arrested and in the Washington state's court system more often than their white counterparts, a recent study commissioned by the state Supreme Court shows. But researchers said counties aren't keeping complete data on ethnicity and the gap between minority and while youth is larger.
• Palm Beach County School, Justice Officials Warn Students Juvenile Crimes can Follow, Hinder Them as Adults (The Palm Beach Post)
  Sometimes, Sonya Saucedo gets mad. It happens: She’s 13 years old. But Saucedo said she worries sometimes about where that anger and frustration will lead her. “I’ve gotten in trouble at school a few times,” the Pahokee Middle School student said. “I once screamed at everyone in class and threw books.” So on Thursday morning, Saucedo tentatively approached the microphone at a school assembly to ask one question: How hard is it to get your life back after you’ve committed a crime?

The ACLU and Human Rights Watch recently partnered to publish a report on the effects of youth in solitary confinement, along with recommendations to the federal government and state governments regarding the use of solitary confinement on teens.
The report, “Growing Up Locked Down: Youth in Solitary Confinement in Jails and Prisons Across the United States” [PDF download] reports that solitary confinement is even more harmful to teens than adults since their brains are still developing. Despite this, teens are held in solitary confinement every day, spending up to 22 hours alone in small cells completely isolated physically and socially from the outside world. From the report:

Sometimes there is a window allowing natural light to enter or a view of the world outside cell walls. Sometimes it is possible to communicate by yelling to other inmates, with voices distorted, reverberating against concrete and metal. Occasionally, they get a book or bible, and if they are lucky, study materials. But inside this cramped space, few contours distinguish one hour, one day, week, or one month, from the next.
Experts assert that young people are psychologically unable to handle solitary confinement with the resilience of an adult. And, because they are still developing, traumatic experiences like solitary confinement may have a profound effect on their chance to rehabilitate and grow. Solitary confinement can exacerbate, or make more likely, short and long-term mental health problems. The most common deprivation that accompanies solitary confinement, denial of physical exercise, is physically harmful to adolescents’ health and well-being.