Juvenile Justice Reform

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) recently released a Statistical Briefing Book that offers statistics on various juvenile justice topics. The Book documents where states stand on a plethora of juvenile justice issues, with data analysis tools that will allow users to create custom analysis of juvenile populations, arrests, court cases and residential placement.
The book displays documentation on the extended age of jurisdiction, how the courts classify status offenses, and administration of community supervision and aftercare services. Easy access guides to juvenile populations, juvenile arrest rates by offense, sex, and race, arrest statistics and the census of juveniles in residential placement are also featured.
The national overviews include access to FBI arrest statistics including data through 2010 and National, State, and County arrest estimates. Access to Juvenile Court statistics including national estimates of the more than 30 million delinquency cases processed by the nation’s juvenile courts between 1985 and 2010 and sections devoted to Juveniles in Court and Juveniles on Probation.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• For Juvenile Detainees, 'Supper Club' Brings Stable Connection (The Baltimore Sun)
  The one-year-old Supper Club program is designed around a time-tested principle — that sharing regular meals with caring grown-ups provides young people with a sense of stability and connection. It's an experience that teens inside these walls may be only passingly familiar with.
• [OPINION] Juvenile Justice System Broken, Needs Oversight (JournalStandard.com)
  "No child should ever be subject to mistreatment, and this report will hopefully incentivize our policymakers to ensure that incarceration is truly the last resort, used only for the safety of the child and the public."
• Forum Focuses on Juvenile Justice (RegisterStar.com)
  For the second straight month, the Time and Space Limited theater in Hudson hosted a meeting on juvenile justice in conjunction with the newly formed Staley B. Keith Social Justice Center. At Wednesday’s event, TSL co-Director Linda Mussman welcomed moderator and sociologist Richard Smith, and a panel of local legal experts to discuss issues facing Hudson youth in the juvenile justice system.
• OP-ED: Families: Solutions to the Crisis in Juvenile Justice (JJIE.org)
  "In 2006, the mother of a teenage daughter involved in the juvenile justice system in Hawaii contacted a small, non-profit in Lake Charles, La., more than 4,000 miles away. The mother was seeking support from someone who could understand her plight in navigating the juvenile justice system and possibly help her find the treatment and services her daughter desperately needed."

Project Director Margaret Soukup, Reclaiming Futures Seattle-King County, discusses how the Reclaiming Futures model has improved their work with young people in King County. Since implementing Reclaiming Futures 10 years ago, they have become more:

• Collaborative,
• Supportive, and
• Inclusive 

To learn more about helping teens overcome drugs, alcohol and crime, please visit www.reclaimingfutures.org

Dear Parents,
Teenage years can be the most tumultuous times for parents and families. However, this is nothing new. The on again off again chaotic interactions of parent versus child often impair the family unit.
When parents are blindsided by gone-astray youth, not knowing what or who to ask causes a strain on everyone. The biggest complaint I receive is that parents don’t know what to ask when experiencing a traumatic crisis. The desire to flee from their environment is the greatest urge most parents feel.
However, most stay and I call it operating under a symptom called “functional numbness”. Meaning parents are physically present, but can be emotionally detached from their teens’ problems. Some consider it self-preservation.
As parents, we have to decide whether or not we want to be “right or happy.” This was and continues to be one of Dr. Phil’s mantras. Yet, it took me some time to incorporate it into my ongoing exchanges of my own.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Efforts Sought to Rehabilitate Troubled Youth (Tribune-Democrat.com)
  While there have been drastic changes in the juvenile justice system in the wake of the “Kids for Cash” scandal, some advocates believe Pennsylvania has so far failed to widely embrace efforts to fully focus on rehabilitating troubled young people. One of the more innovative efforts in Pennsylvania involves the use of youth courts, in which young people themselves mete out justice for their peers.
• Bad Food, a Bible, and a Blanket: 24 Hours in Juvenile Solitary Confinement (Wired.com)
  As a photographer, how far would you go to get in the heads of your subjects? For Richard Ross, it meant 24 hours in solitary confinement at a juvenile detention center. Over six years, Ross has photographed hundreds of detention centers and interviewed more than a 1,000 children for a project called Juvenile-in-Justice that aims to educate people about the juvenile justice system. He’s as familiar as any outsider with the subject, but he decided it wasn’t enough.
• Past Traumatic Experiences Common Among Detained Juveniles (JJIE.org)
  Most young people placed in detention have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, according to a new report from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). “PTSD, Trauma and Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders in Detained Youth,” released Tuesday, included findings culled from the Northwestern Juvenile Project, which assessed more than 1,800 young detainees in Chicago between 1995 and 1998.
• Nebraska Gov. Heineman Signs Juvenile Justice Reform Bill, Focusing on Youth Rehabilitation (TheRepublic.com)
  Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has signed a juvenile justice reform bill into law. The measure by Sen. Brad Ashford, of Omaha, is designed to shift the state's focus toward rehabilitation for youths who break the law. Heineman approved the legislation on Wednesday during a news conference.
• Gov. Heineman Signs Juvenile Justice Reform into Law (Omaha.com)
  The state embarked on a new approach in dealing with troubled juveniles Wednesday. Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law a major reform bill that shifts the focus from incarceration to treatment for youthful offenders and puts state probation officers in charge of that rehabilitation work instead of state social workers.

Tom Begich, coach and former project director in Anchorage Alaska, describes how Reclaiming Futures has transcended anything they ever imagined to create a safer, healthier community. 

• Crime and substance abuse rates are down
• Graduation rates are up 
• Evidence-based practices are driving change

Reclaiming Futures Hardin County recently hosted our first annual Run for Recovery 5k Run/Walk & Kids Dash. The event was held in order to involve the community in the services offered from both Hardin Community School and Reclaiming Futures, while encouraging our youth to live a healthier lifestyle. The name Run for Recovery was chosen in order to incorporate Hardin County youth in all aspects of recovery, including education, along with recovery from drugs, alcohol, crime, and mental health problems.
The race was held Saturday May 25th, 2013 at Hardin Community School/Lifeworks Center. Roughly 160 runners/walkers and youth took place in the 5k and kids dash. Each participant received a goody bag filled with local offerings and a Run for Recovery 5k t-shirt.
Businesses, organizations and individuals from the community astounded us with their overwhelming support months leading up to the race! Nearly 40 separate entities showed their support with monetary donation, door prize donations, post-race refreshment, prizes for the kid’s dash, participants’ goodie bag contributions, and sponsorships for kid’s entry fees, not to mention the countless volunteers who helped with race preparation.
Race morning was no different! Our team was greeted race morning with over 20 volunteers to help us organize. Volunteers from the Sheriff’s Office, Kenton Police Department, mentors, Hardin Community Schools’ 4-H chapter, and Hardin County Vietnam vets were on site to assist our team. Throughout the race, public bystanders lined the streets to watch as the race participants passed by their homes and offices. A huge hit for the crowd was seeing Hardin County Juvenile Court’s K9, Cory, complete the 5k with her handler Sheriff Deputy Rushing.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• [AUDIO] Juvenile Justice System Overhaul Signed into Law (NebraskaRadioNetwork.com)
  Nebraska will shift how it treats juvenile offenders under a bill signed into law by the governor. Gov. Dave Heineman has signed LB 561e, juvenile justice reform approved by the legislature. Heineman, during a news conference in his Capitol office, called the bill complex. Still, he has hopes for a simple outcome.
• Dramatic Reform of Juvenile Justice Takes Shape in Legislature (NorthPlatteBulletin.com)
  Juvenile criminals would be rehabilitated at home, with help from probation officers, under a bill advancing in the state Legislature.
  Lawmakers advanced LB 651, aiming to overhaul Nebraska’s juvenile justice system. The bill would transfer responsibility for the state’s roughly 3,000 juvenile offenders from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Office of Probation Administration.
• Nebraska Governor Vetoes $200K in Golf Tournament Funding (SFGate.com)
  Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman used a line-item veto Tuesday to strike $200,000 from a budget bill that was approved to promote the U.S. Senior Open golf tournament in Omaha. The Republican governor said the budget item was unjustified, given the state's other spending priorities on education and reforms to the state's juvenile justice services.
• Justice Reform Paying Off Sooner than Expected (Ledger-Enquirer.com)
  When Gov. Nathan Deal prompted the Georgia General Assembly to undertake sentencing reform for the adult criminal justice system (to be followed the next year by juvenile justice reform), he acknowledged that he didn't expect to see any substantial changes for a few years. In terms of the state prison population, that's certainly the case so far. In fact, the state inmate count actually rose slightly from the end of 2010 through last year.
• Massachusetts House Votes to Move 17-Year-Olds into Juvenile Justice System (WickedLocal.com)
  The House unanimously passed legislation Wednesday that would move 17-year-old offenders into the juvenile justice system in Massachusetts, ending the practice of routinely incarcerating 17-year-olds in adult corrections facilities.

Thank you to Sadric Bonner, Great Expectations certified family partner, who talks about how Reclaiming Futures supports her work.
Ms. Bonner has contributed on reclaimingfutures.org as a parent in One Parent's Experience with the Juvenile Justice System, and as a social service partner in Youth Mentoring Has Lifelong Benefits -- for the Mentor, Too.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Juvenile Justice Shows Progress (Illinois Times)
  When the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice was created in 2006, the state’s youth prisons held 1,500 juvenile offenders. Today, there are fewer than 900 kids behind bars in Illinois juvenile justice system. It’s one sign of progress for the relatively new department, which was previously part of the adult-oriented Illinois Department of Corrections.
• Forsyth County Clerk of Court Wants to Turn Old School into a Juvenile Court (MyFox8.com)
  Forsyth County, N.C., Clerk of Court Susan Frye wants to see the now closed Hill Middle School in Winston-Salem turned into a one-stop shop for the more than 1,300 offenders who come through juvenile court each year. Frye says the courthouse is out of space and can not house the services the young offenders are often sentenced too. Hill closed last year after consolidating with Philo Middle School.
• Pennsylvania Finds 20 Percent of Juveniles Re-offend Within Two Years (JJIE.org)
  A new report issued by the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission finds that among juveniles whose cases were closed in 2007, one-in-five recidivated within two years. The Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Recidivism Report found juvenile recidivism rates to be as high as 45 percent in some counties, with the average length between case closure and recidivism to be 11.5 months.