Juvenile Justice Reform

Rounding up the latest news on youth justice reform and national public health.

Webinar on developing leadership and advocacy skills of at-risk LGBT youth.

A Recording of the Family Centered Strategies in Juvenile Court webinar is now available.

Family Centered Strategies in Juvenile Court Featuring Members of the Reclaiming Futures National Program  Mon. Nov. 20, 2017 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM PST Register now for this November webinar featuring Jerry Stollings, a Reclaiming Futures Project Director from Williams County in Northwest Ohio; with an introduction by Reclaiming Futures National Executive Director Evan Elkin.

In August, 2017, Dr. Angela Irvine released an important report examining new data on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning, Gender Nonconforming, and Transgender (LGBQ/GNCT) Youth in the Justice System. Here is a conversation between Reclaiming Futures Executive Director Evan Elkin and Dr. Irvine on the new report.

Since joining Reclaiming Futures, I have listened to the open meetings of the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice (FACJJ). Supported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), FACJJ (pronounced FAC Jay) members are individuals appointed to State Advisory Groups. Created in 2002, FACJJ members are responsible for having knowledge of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and to encourage state compliance with the four core protections:

Nearly two decades ago, our nation’s juvenile justice system began to slowly shift the way we think about young people. The prevailing punitive and heavily racialized narrative about justice-involved youth that produced the infamous term “super-predator” has gradually given way to a new, more humanistic narrative.

While we still have a long way to go, the field now looks at delinquent behavior through a more developmentally informed lens, is more willing to look at the root causes of racial disparities in the system, and understands that many youth arrive at the doorstep of the justice system with a history of significant trauma.

Many jurisdictions now actively look for opportunities to divert low-risk youth from court and employ an array of treatment-oriented alternatives to incarceration for youth who need a therapeutic intervention.

In this month’s Reclaiming Futures newsletter, we turn our attention to one of the most important threads in the juvenile justice reform narrative of the past 15 years: the debate regarding the age of adult responsibility in the criminal justice system.

Research shows that adolescents have a high propensity for engaging in risk taking activities given the significant changes in neurology, biology, and other developmental issues (e.g., social; cultural; familial) they experience. Specifically related to decision-making, science shows the pre-frontal cortex region of the brain is underdeveloped until a young person is well into their 20’s.  With these findings in mind, how should this influence the way we think about key juvenile justice policies and practices like the age of juvenile jurisdiction?

On December 13th, President Obama signed into law the 21st Century Cures Act. This sweeping legislative initiative is likely to be the final piece of legislation Barack Obama signs, and it is anything but an afterthought. The act is not without its critics, but some of the provisions of the 21st Century Cures ACT, for example those that pave the way for cross agency coordination, promise to reverberate in positive ways in the treatment field by accelerating the impact of research and innovation and catalyzing more collaborative work across government agencies and professional fields.

For organizations like Reclaiming Futures whose mission includes efforts to bring systems together in the delivery of services to youth and families, this new set of laws is good news. In this month’s Reclaiming Futures Newsletter, we draw your attention to this important piece of legislation and to a new blog post by Reclaiming Futures’ Bridget Murphy that highlights some of the key moving parts and implications that this important piece of legislation has for us in the field of substance use and behavioral health treatment.

Acknowledged as the final signed legislation for President Obama’s Administration, the 21^st Ce​ntury Cures Act is important for behavioral health and juvenile justice. The key components of this Act include provisions for:

• Addressing the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic
• Providing funding for the BRAIN initiative and precision medicine
• Improving mental health care by increasing the availability of treatment and improving justice systems to ensure individuals in need of mental health services - actually get it
• Improving clinical trials
• Expanding cancer research and treatment efforts