Juvenile Justice Reform

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Time is ripe for reforms in juvenile justice
  New York Law Journal
  Important lessons from New York about reforming complex government systems. This is not the time to consider scaling back our commitment to community-based services for troubled youth.
• New Georgia juvenile code advancing in state legislature
  Juvenile Justice Information Exchange
  A long-planned overhaul of Georgia’s juvenile justice code got its first official nod of approval Wednesday, but backers still haven’t figured out how to pay for it.
• Youth Court Proposed for New York
  StarGazette
  The state's chief judge Tuesday proposed to create a new youth court that would adjudicate cases involving 16- and 17-year-olds who are charged with non-violent crimes.
• Kentucky House approves task force to overhaul juvenile code, decrease jailing for “status offenses”
  The Republic
  Kentucky lawmakers in the House on recently approved a measure to create a task force to rewrite the state's juvenile code. The task force also would look for overall ways to reduce the incarceration of juveniles, ways to provide more treatment in the community and ways to use any savings for more services for juveniles.
• Georgia eyes ways to keep teens out of lockup
  New England Cable News
  Georgia law allows adolescents who wind up in the juvenile court system for infractions such as skipping school or missing curfew to be treated similar to juveniles who commit crimes and are locked in detention centers, said Dr. Sandra Stone, vice president of academic affairs at Dalton State and a researcher on juvenile justice reform.
• Virginia Senate committee rejects administration-backed bill to try more juveniles as adults
  The Republic
  A Senate committee on Monday rejected legislation backed by Gov. Bob McDonnell that would have resulted in more juveniles being tried in adult court.
• New York Governor wants incarcerated juveniles ‘close to home’
  Legislative Gazette
  Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues to build on reforms to the state's juvenile justice system by proposing the "Close to Home" initiative which would allow New York City's youth to be treated in facilities near their homes.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• The strange lessons of Whitney Houston's addiction
  The Atlantic
  When writer, Elizabeth Wurtzel, was in the rehabilitative treatment center she heard that one in 35 addicts will get and stay clean and sober.

Those working with "crossover youth" in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems should consider applying for the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform's Certificate Programs in Multi-System Integration. These week-long programs are designed to cover a variety of issues impacting crossover youth and multi-system reform to prepare leaders to undertake a wide-range of reforms in their community.
The programs are targeted at public and private sector leaders working in the juvenile justice, child welfare, judiciary, behavioral health, education and other systems that serve crossover youth. The programs utilize a multi-systems and multi-disciplinary approach in focusing on policies, programs and practices that improve outcomes for this population. Upon completion of the week-long program, participants apply the knowledge they gain via a Capstone Project—a reform agenda they implement in their organization/ community to make a positive impact on the lives of crossover youth. In order to enhance the possibility of implementing cross systems change after returning from the program, applicants from the same jurisdiction are encouraged to apply as “mini-teams.”
Certificate Program for Public Sector Leaders
July 6-13, 2012 (applications due by March 22, 2012)
October 10-17, 2012 (priority application deadline is March 22, 2012)
Certificate Program for Private Sector Leaders
November 7-14, 2012 (applications due by July 17, 2012)
This is a great opportunity to hone your skills, network with current and future leaders in the field and improve the operation of your organization.

President Barack Obama unveiled his 2013 budget proposal Monday, which calls for $3.8 trillion in spending and projects a $901 billion deficit for the year. It was quickly met with resistance from Republican leadership.
“The President’s budget falls exceptionally short in many critical areas – including a lack of any substantive proposal for mandatory and entitlement spending reform,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), in a statement issued Monday.
Rogers promised to “go line by line through the President’s budget, prioritize programs, and make decisions on the appropriate investment of discretionary funds.”
Juvenile Justice
The President would fund the Office of Justice Programs at $1.7 billion in 2013, down from $2.7 billion in 2011 and $2 billion in 2012. The budget would increase spending on the juvenile justice and delinquency prevention programs at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, a division of OJP.

Formula grants to states (Title II): $70 million
2012 appropriation: $40 million
Delinquency prevention grants: $40 million
2012 appropriation: $20 million
Block grants to states (JABG): $30 million
2012 appropriation: $30 million
Mentoring programs: $58 million
2012 appropriation: $78 million
Community-Based Violence Prevention: $25 million
2012 appropriation: $8 million

Alaska Public Radio recently aired a segment on Alaska's juvenile justice system. In order to better understand the system and how it works, they interviewed Brian Petrilla, a teen-bankrobber-turned-adult-probation-officer and Rob Wood, the Deputy Director of the Alaska Division of Juvenile Justice. During the interview, Brian explains how and why he encountered the juvenile justice system and how he was able to turn his life around. Rob goes on to explain how the Division of Juvenile Justice is able to:

1. Hold youth accountable for their actions;
2. Promote the safety and restorization of victims and their communities; and
3. Equip young offenders and their families with the skills to help prevent future crime.  

Click here to listen.

Bart Lubow visited Oregon last week and was kind enough to sit down with me to discuss the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Judicial Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI). 

Bart is the designer and manager of the JDAI, which is currently the nation's most widely replicated juvenile justice system reform project. As the name suggests, the JDAI is focused on reducing the unnecessary confinement of youth in the United States. On average, JDAI sites have reduced reliance on detention by over 40% with no decreases in public safety outcomes!

Juvenile Justice Reform

• California activists calling for changes to state’s juvenile justice system
  Juvenile Justice Information Exchange:
  Last month, California’s Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice(CJCJ) released a policy brief recommending phased juvenile justice realignment beginning later this year.
• Judge Daley retires after helping transform juvenile court
  MyCentralJersey.com:
  New Brunswick Judge Roger Daley exited his courtroom for the last time in his 15-year tenure on the bench last week. He took off his black robe and took a seat behind an ample desk smothered with items including a “Thank You” from a grandmother of a teen, who appreciated his work to rehabilitate her grandson.
• Bill would raise high-school dropout age to 18
  The Arizona Republic:
  State Rep. Daniel Patterson, D-Tucson, has introduced a bill that would increase the age at which high-school students could legally drop out from 16 to 18.
• Should Orange County’s juvenile hearings be opened to news media?
  OC Register:
  Last week, the presiding judge of Los Angeles County's Juvenile Court ordered dependency proceedings there to be opened to the media, saying secrecy had allowed problems to fester, but is that the best way to protect children?
• Budget cuts would lead to closure of several juvenile justice facilities
  The Salt Lake Tribune:
  Budget cuts could lead to the closure of several juvenile justice centers across the state, making it harder for youth offenders to be treated in their own communities or earn back the money they need to pay restitution to their victims.
• Editorial: Well-deserved honors
  The Commercial Appeal:
  The efforts by the leadership team at Shelby County Juvenile Court to change the face of juvenile justice in Memphis and Shelby County continues to garner national recognition.
• MacArthur Foundation, OJJDP announce private-public partnership
  Philanthropy News Digest:
  The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) have announced a private-public partnership that includes a $2 million commitment to support innovative reforms in treatment and services for youth involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• Drug use among florida youth drops
  Miami Herald:
  The 2011 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey showed less than 10 percent of students tried drugs other than marijuana within 30 days of the survey. Twelve percent of students reported using marijuana, a decline from 2010.

Good news from the Department of Justice: They've launched the National Girls Institute (NGI) website which will make it much easier for practictioners, analysts and families to access information on girls in the juvenile justice system. Founded in 2010, the NGI is a research-based training and resource clearinghouse designed to advance understanding of girls’ issues and improve program and system responses to girls in the juvenile justice system.
"We have a responsibility to educate professionals and the public about what programs work to keep girls safe and out of trouble," said OJJDP Acting Administrator Melodee Hanes in the DOJ's press release. "This website is an important step forward in our efforts to improve the lives of girls across the country."
The website's resources range from technical assistance and training materials to data and tool sets for practictioners as well as resources for parents and girls in the system.

Since its founding, Reclaiming Futures has been dedicated to helping to build a balanced and restorative juvenile justice system that holds youth accountable, but breaks the cycle of crime and drugs by providing evidence-based substance abuse treatment to the kids who need it.
Along the way, we’ve connected with 29 communities across the country and received great feedback on the power of the Reclaiming Futures model and its ability to ensure that youth have access to treatment. Our model has 6 parts:

1. Initial screening: As soon as possible after being referred to the juvenile justice system, youth should be screened for substance abuse problems using a reputable screening tool.
2. Initial assessment: If substance abuse is indicated, refer for service coordination.
3. Service coordination: Intervention plans should be designed and coordinated by community teams that are family-driven, span agency boundaries and draw upon community-based resources.
4. Initiation: Service initiation is a critical moment in intervention.
5. Engagement: Youth and families must be effectively engaged in services.
6. Transition: Community coordination teams should specify how much of each service plan must be completed, after which agency-based services will be gradually withdrawn, as appropriate.

A New Mexico federal court judge recently received a complaint citing the following facts: a 13-year-old boy repeatedly belched in class. While this was amusing to his pals, the teacher found it disruptive.
Unable to get the 13-year-old to stop, the teacher called the school resource officer. The officer refused to arrest the boy for belching, but the teacher insisted. The officer arrested the boy.
The media indicted the officer. The boy, fearing the loss of his status as a nationally ranked baseball player, fell apart. The mother removed her son from the school.
This lose-lose scenario is not unusual. At Strategies for Youth (SFY), an advocacy and training organization dedicated to improving police/youth interactions, we hear of such cases two or three times a week.
For the adults involved, the result is frustration and defensiveness; for the youth involved, the result is trauma and distrust and the dangerous lesson that “might makes right.”
Some incidents are resolved in court; many receive big headlines but little follow-up in the media. There are often calls for investigation, questions about racial bias, and further entrenchment of adversarial attitudes that lead to expensive and usually unhelpful extensions of anguish for most of, if not all, the parties involved.
We can do better.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Obama announces intent to nominate new deputy director for ONDCP
  Join Together:
  President Obama this past week announced his intent to nominate Michael P. Botticelli as Deputy Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy.
• Kanawha to institute juvenile drug court
  Charleston Daily Mail:
  West Virginia’s Kanawha County aims to curb drug abuse soon after it starts by instituting a juvenile drug court program.
• Five questions with Mike Dansereau, formerly with the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice
  Ledger Enquirer:
  In this interview, Mike Dansereau explains the differences between the adult and juvenile courts and what he would like to change in the juvenile system.
• Iowa County sets aside $600k for juvenile justice system
  The Daily Iowan:
  Johnson County officials said they're worried minority youth are running into legal issues at a higher rate than their white peers. The county has set aside $600,000 for the Juvenile Justice and Youth Development Program and is now accepting applications for projects to use that money.
• Richmond making fixes to juvenile detention center
  Richmond Times-Dispatch:
  Richmond officials say the city's juvenile detention center will be repaired and its staff fully retrained by April to fix the problems that led the state to put the troubled facility on probation for the second time in three years.
• OP-ED:The true cost of high school dropouts
  New York Times:
  When the costs of investment to produce a new graduate are taken into account, there is a return of $1.45 to $3.55 for every dollar of investment, depending upon the educational intervention strategy. Under this estimate, each new graduate confers a net benefit to taxpayers of about $127,000 over the graduate’s lifetime.
• Opinion: Police need better access to juvenile records
  Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel:
  Rep. John Richards and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett make a case for allowing police officers to access juvenile probation information when they encounter young suspects on the street.
• The price of prisons: What incarceration costs taxpayers
  Vera Institute of Justice:
  The full report provides the taxpayer cost of incarcerating a sentenced adult offender to state prison in 40 states, presents the methodology, and concludes with recommendations about steps policy makers can take to safely rein in these costs.
• Department of Juvenile Justice representatives address YDC upheaval
  The Augusta Chronicle:
  A representative from the Department of Juvenile Justice was in Augusta for the District Five Quarterly Breakfast meeting Saturday to speak about the changes and upheaval at the Augusta Youth Development Campus.
• Youth Fair aims to keep kids out of trouble
  NWF Daily News:
  Local juvenile assistance organizations gathered at the mail to share information with teens and concerned parents on a variety of local programs at the Okaloosa County Juvenile Justice Council’s Youth Fair.
• Editorial: Ensuring teen offenders can’t be rehabilitated
  Washington Post:
  The Washington Post Editorial Board takes a stance against two juvenile justice reform proposals championed by Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• The prescription drug epidemic: a federal judge’s perspective
  Join Together:
  Pills are the new drug of choice for kids. A recent survey revealed that young people 12 and older are abusing prescription drugs at greater rates than cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine combined. Only marijuana abuse is more common. And, most troubling, every day approximately 7,000 young people abuse a prescription narcotic for the first time.