Juvenile Justice Reform

A new report provides a comprehensive picture of the conditions for certified juveniles awaiting trial in adult county jails, based on a survey of 41 jails across the state of Texas.
The University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School Senior Lecturer Michele Deitch (along with coauthors Anna Lipton Galbraith, a master of public affairs student at the LBJ School, and Jordan Pollock, a student at the UT School of Law) has released “Conditions for Certified Juveniles in Texas County Jails,” the second in her series on juveniles in the adult criminal justice system in Texas. The first report, “Juveniles in the Adult Criminal Justice System in Texas” was published in 2011, and compared the significant differences in programming and services for the two populations of youthful offenders—those who get sent to adult prisons after conviction, and those who receive placements in the juvenile system.

Unique circumstances sometimes underlie juvenile delinquency cases. In order to properly handle those cases and prevent further wrongdoing, targeted approaches can specifically address those underlying circumstances in ways traditional juvenile justice systems cannot.
The circuit court in Winnebago County, Illinois, recently initiated the Youth Recovery Court for youths with mental illnesses or substance abuse issues. Specifically limited to youths charged with nonviolent offenses, the court seeks to treat the mental health or substance abuse issue to prevent further delinquency linked to those health issues. This community based program incorporates a high level of family participation to ensure adherence to the treatment plan.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• States have second thoughts about juveniles in adult court (Bellingham Herald) Nearly 20 years after the "iron fist" ruled in Colorado, the tide is turning in preference of checks and balances so that youth are not caught in the middle of the system.
• At-risk youths achieve in Texas (Go San Angelo) A $154,000 grant was awarded to the Tom Green County Juvenile Justice Department earlier this year to address the needs of children ages 6 through 13. The goal is to identify problems in school or the household before students end up on juvenile probation.
• Handcuffing of 8-year-old prompts change in school policy (Las Vegas Review Journal) When the Superintendent Dwight Jones learned of the arrest of Tyrus Williams, he ordered a policy change to reflect that juveniles of elementary age shall not be arrested and transported to any juvenile facility unless authorized by the chief of police.
• Psychiatrists stand against harmful juvenile justice system policies (National Juvenile Justice Network) In a recent policy statement, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) strongly opposes the use of solitary confinement for youth in trouble with the law. The statement discusses the fact that youth are especially sensitive to the known adverse effects of solitary confinement, like anxiety and psychosis.
• New report: Louisiana ‘strayed’ from commitment to juvenile justice reform (Youth Today) Nearly a decade after Louisiana committed to sweeping changes to the state’s struggling juvenile justice system, some advocates contend the governor and leaders in the state’s Office of Juvenile Justice are “backsliding” on their commitments to reform.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment News
From The Partnership at Drugfree.org

• 7-Eleven announces move to prevent underage purchases of tobacco, potential inhalants  7-Eleven to launch a new technology that will scan the code on the back of a customer’s driver license or identification card, in a move to prevent minors from purchasing alcohol, tobacco, potential inhalants and lottery tickets.
• New report: Treating drug use as public health issue could lower crime rate A new government report suggests that treating drug use as a public health issue could lead to reduced crime rates. The annual report by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy finds illegal drugs play a central role in criminal acts.

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!

In New York and North Carolina, 16 and 17 year old teens are automatically sent to adult criminal court for criminal offenses, including nonviolent charges. 
Lawmakers in North Carolina are already working to raise the juvenile age to 18 and now New York is following suit.
Writing at Child Welfare Watch, Alec Hamilton explains:

The effort to keep nonviolent 16- and 17-year-olds out of adult court has moved to the state legislature, which is considering two new juvenile justice bills. One, based on a proposal by the state’s chief judge, would establish permanent youth courts that prevent those tried for nonviolent offenses from picking up permanent criminal records—but would have little impact for thousands of 16- and 17-year-olds charged each year with violent felonies.
The second would raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18 for all but those accused of the most serious offenses, sending them automatically through the juvenile justice system...
Legislative observers say the bill that is most likely to move forward is a compromise that reflects the desire of youth advocates, legislators and Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman to raise the age of adult criminal prosecutions to 18 for nonviolent offenses, but will not overload the Family Court with thousands of new cases. In fact, the new youth courts would be located in and managed by the adult Criminal Court system.

A recently published report shines a light on collective efforts being made to transform Arkansas’ juvenile justice system.
This white paper, “Arkansas Youth Justice: The Architecture of Reform” by Pat Arthur and Christopher Hartney, first provides an overview of the state of juvenile justice in Arkansas before reform efforts began. Then, the authors outline the architecture of the reform process currently underway under the stewardship of Ron Angel, Director of the Division of Youth Services (DYS). The article also describes the essential elements of specific reform initiatives in detail.
Hypothetical scenarios and models to further advance and “revolutionize” current policy and practices are proffered, with the goal to advance efforts to safely reduce the number of youth held in secure custody, as is called for in the (DYS) division's strategic reform plan.
This article is designed to aid in the larger discussion happening among Arkansas policymakers and stakeholders about practical and effective ways to further the goals of reform in the future.

The Justice Department released a landmark ruling on Thursday to help protect juvenile offenders from falling victim to sexual abuse in adult prisons.
The ruling marks the first-ever federal effort aimed at setting standards to protect inmates, both juvenile and adult, in correctional facilities on the local, state and federal level.
“The standards we establish today reflect the fact that sexual assault crimes committed within our correctional facilities can have devastating consequences – for individual victims and for communities far beyond our jails and prisons,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a DOJ release.
The standard also restricts the placement of juveniles in adult facilities, aiming to protect youth from sexual abuse by limiting contact between youth and adults behind bars through four specific requirements:

• Prohibiting the placement of youth in the general adult prison population
• Eliminating contact between adults and youth in common areas,
• Ensuring youth are under constant supervision
• And limiting the use of isolation for juveniles.
• States that will be most affected by the new regulations are the 13 states that end juvenile court jurisdiction before the age of 18. Although classified by state-law as adults, the new federal rule clarifies that all inmates under the age of 18 deserve special protections.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• How revision of the state budget could affect San Joaquin County (Record Net) Governor Jerry Brown's revision of the California state budget could mean the Division of Juvenile Justice would continue to operate, but its budget would be cut by $24.8 million. The governor is proposing to charge counties $24,000 per year for each person committed to a state juvenile justice center.
• New Pennsylvania Bar Association chief focuses on youth (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Thomas G. Wilkinson Jr., the new chief of the Pennsylvania Bar Association will push three priorities, 1) training requirements for prosecutors and public defenders involved in juvenile cases; 2) civics education, so kids understand how government works and the availability of courts to resolve disputes instead of taking disputes into one's own hands; and 3) youth courts to help address the number of kids who get into the juvenile justice system.
• Tackling gang violence (The Crime Report) Toledo, Ohio builds an approach similar to Boston during the late 1990s to tackle violence. The model was developed by David Kennedy, now the director of the Center on Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College in New York.
• Youth recovery court starts in Winnebago County (WREX) Chief Justice Janet Holmgre describes a holistic approach to providing a comprehensive network of mental health services to help the youth that are involved get out of the juvenile justice system and hopefully stay out of the adult criminal justice system.
• Portland church spearheads effort to keep youth out of justice system (The Portland Daily Sun) Restorative Justice Center in Portland, Maine has won endorsements from the law enforcement community including the Portland Police Department and the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office. "This gives us an additional tool as police officers that we didn't have," said Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck.
• Calling in juvenile justice cavalry (Austin American Statesman)  Gov. Rick Perry moved Jay Kimbrough from his new position as assistant director for homeland security at the Department of Public Safety to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department to bring some urgently needed safety and security to the agency's youth lockups.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• DSM 5 could mean 40% of college students are alcoholics (TIME) Most college binge drinkers and drug users don’t develop lifelong problems. But new mental-health guidelines will label too many of them addicts and alcoholics. The DSM 5 will have just one diagnosis for addiction problems, though it will be characterized as mild, moderate or severe.
• Breaking the inter-generational cycle of substance abuse (Join Together) Children raised in a household with one or more parents struggling with a substance use disorder often use compliance as a coping mechanism—a skill that often no longer serves them well in adulthood. Compliance is one key reason so many people with substance use disorders do well while in the criminal justice system, but relapse, often only days after they are released.

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!

The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University‘s Public Policy Institute, in partnership with the Juvenile Law Center, has announced its inaugural Information Sharing Certificate Program. This program, supported with funding from the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change Initiative, is designed to enable leaders in the juvenile justice, child welfare, education, behavioral health and other child serving fields to overcome information sharing challenges that prevent the communication and coordination that is necessary to more fully serve youth known across multiple systems of care. Upon completion of the intensive three-day learning experience, participants apply the knowledge they gain through the development and implementation of a Capstone Project—an action agenda they undertake in their organization/community to initiate or enhance information sharing efforts. To accelerate these efforts, it is strongly encouraged that those interested in attending form a team from their jurisdiction to apply to the program.
Faculty for the program is comprised of information sharing, juvenile justice and child welfare subject matter experts from across the country who will deliver a curriculum designed to increase participants' ability to solve real-life problems when they return home. Thanks to the MacArthur Foundation, tuition subsidies are available for those with financial need.

Information Sharing Certificate Program
October 1-4, 2012
Washington, DC
Application Deadline: June 28, 2012

Speaking at the New Schools - Aspen Institute Summit 2012 last week, David Domenici challenged educators to embrace troubled (and often challenging) students and to keep them in school, instead of calling the police. 

(watch David's short talk at the 29:45 mark)
He listed 4 focus areas:

Juvenile Justice Reform
Youth court steers first offenders to the right path (Livingston County News)  Teenage volunteers are trained to serve as judges, attorneys, juries and other court officers empowered with determining a community service “sanction” for the young offender to complete.
Justice deptartment moves to engage public in juvenile court remedy (Tri-State Defender)  U.S. Department of Justice officials on Wednesday (May 9) confirmed plans for their own town hall meeting designed, in part, to help make sure that “people understand the next steps” in bringing Shelby County Juvenile Court up to federal standards.
Opinion: Trying youths as adults hurts families and taxpayers, but not crime (Christian Science Monitor)  Most youth cases that end up in adult court, get there automatically – a result of laws, for instance, that set the age for adult trial at 16 or 17. These youths are not afforded the benefit of any kind of judicial hearing or case review by a juvenile court judge.
Fewer Texas kids in discipline schools (Austin American-Statesman)  The number of Texas children in schools for those previously expelled because of disciplinary problems declined by nearly 40 percent over five years, a top juvenile justice official told lawmakers Monday.
Teen Court program designed to steer youths away from crime (Gazette.net)  Teen Court is a program run by the Prince George’s County state’s attorney’s office that allows first-time juvenile offenders to avoid the juvenile justice system by being granted a second chance by a “jury” of their peers.