Juvenile Justice Reform

I’m sure you already know the Reclaiming Futures mantra for teens in the justice system who have alcohol and drug issues: “More treatment, better treatment, and beyond treatment!”
The hardest part of the mantra to bring to fruition is the third part of it – how can we help support youth in recovery once they’re done with treatment (or even the juvenile court)? Changing behavior for the long-term isn’t easy, and youth need positive activities and supportive adults to help them stay sober and crime-free.
 
To begin to tackle our own “beyond treatment” plan, Bristol County Reclaiming Futures recently hosted a “sustainability summit.” Our goal was to initiate conversation about how to better meet the needs of at-risk and justice-involved youth with substance abuse issues, and I’m happy to report that the project generated a lot of positive energy and even made the news! We generated a number of strategies to move forward, and a task force comprised of summit attendees and other interested parties soon begin working on implementing them. (Special thanks to Dan Merrigan of Boston University, our Reclaiming Futures coach, for facilitating the work group project.)
 
Some highlights:

Juvenile Justice Reform and Related News

• The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention wants your input by August 9, 2010 on federal policies and practices in these areas:
  • education and at-risk youth
  • juvenile reentry and transitions into adulthood
  • racial/ethnic disparities in juvenile justice and related systems
  • tribal youth and juvenile justice.

The Council has published a detailed request and guidelines in the Federal Register.
Here's the tricky part: to submit your comments, type "Juvenile Council" into the search box here labelled "Enter Keyword or ID." You'll likely get more than one search result, but look for the one that says, "Request for Public Comments - Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention." Don't click on it if you're ready to comment; instead, look over to the right, where you'll see a "Submit Comment" link. Click on that, and you'll be able to type in your comments. You can also scan other comments already submitted to the site. (If you can't submit your comments electronically, there are instructions in the guidelines for how to mail them in.)

One of the four core principles of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) is that juvenile status offenders not be placed in secure detention. ("Status offenders" are minors who do things that would not generally be a offense if they were adults. For example, truants, runaways, and curfew violators are status offenders.)
However, an exception to the law was made in 1980 to allow courts to detain young people who had committed status offenses if they had also violated a "valid court order" -- the so-called "VCO exception."
As Nancy Gannon Hornberger writes in, "Improving Outcomes for Status Offenders in the JJDPA Reauthorization," which appeared in the summer 2010 issue of Juvenile and Family Justice Today from the National Council of Family and Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), "The nation is split. Twenty-five U.S. states and territories do not allow or do not use the VCO exception; in 30 states [including the territories, and Washington, D.C.], the VCO exception is allowable."
Approximately 12,000 non-delinquent status offenders are locked-up with delinquent youth each year. Serious concerns have been raised about whether such detentions do more harm than good. Juvenile justice practitioners, advocates and members of Congress have responded to these concerns with an amendment to the JJPDA to eliminate the VCO exception.

It's easy to focus on juvenile justice reform during good times; the real test comes with budget cuts.
But even wrenching cuts to staff and services can provide a chance to achieve lasting improvements to juvenile justice policies and programs.
Don't believe me? The National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) has just provided us all with a road map that's concrete, helpful, and surprisingly inspiring. Titled, "The Real Costs and Benefits of Change: Finding Opportunities for Reform During Difficult Fiscal Times," it's a model of cool-headed resourcefulness.

Juvenile Justice Reform and Related News

• Right on the heels of a publication from the National Council of Family and Juvenile Court Judges (NCJFCJ) called, "10 Things Every Juvenile Court Judge Should Know about Trauma and Delinquency," comes a brief from the Justice Policy Institute, which also makes the case for investing in "trauma-informed care" for kids in the justice system. 
• The Sentencing Project has just launched a new page devoted to juvenile justice issues, including short summaries of recent news, research, and related resources. For example, check out the brief review of I Don’t Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine: Tales of Kids in Adult Lockup, by David Chura. (Scroll down after following the link.)
• "What's the Matter with Kids Today?" The ABA Journal breaks down the emerging science on teen's developmental deficits, and how it's changing juvenile justice law. It also contains an in-depth examination of the recent Supreme Court case banning life without parole for juveniles who do not commit homicide. (Hat tip to Youth Today.)

You probably saw that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) recently put out "Juvenile Court Statistics 2006-2007," compiled by the National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ). Since not everyone will have the time to thumb through a 158-page report, so NCJJ also compiled four bite-sized fact sheets derived from the full report for your convenience:

• "Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court, 2007";
   
• "Delinquency Cases Waived to Criminal Court, 2007";
   
• "Juvenile Delinquency Probation Caseload, 2007"; and
   
• "Person Offense Cases in Juvenile Court, 2007".

Check out John Kelly's post on this over at Youth Today, where he points out the stats that jumped out at him.

Teens on Drugs - How We Talk About it Matters

• Hat tip to Outreach for this piece on heroin use by teens in the suburbs from Robbie Woliver, the journalist who broke the story a year ago: "These kids just don't think it's a big deal one way or another -- there is no stigma any longer, nor is it a badge of honor. It doesn't make them 'cool.' It's just what everybody does. No big deal."

This is scary stuff, no doubt, but the coverage is troubling. Woliver wants everyone to wake up because suburban teens are using heroin -- teens who are not just "the lowest-life dregs of society in skid rows and downtrodden ghettos in the worst parts of urban areas," but who "have the same family values." Which makes me wonder what Woliver would think of the teens in the justice system, where substance abuse and addiction has been a common problem for years. Maybe what's needed isn't just alarm about middle-class white kids dying from heroin, tragic though that is. Maybe we need to start caring about all our kids. 

• Want to know what works when it comes to talking to the public about teens with drug and alcohol issues who are in trouble with the law? Check out the recommendations in Solutions Storytelling: Messaging to Mobilize Support for Children's Issues. (Hat tip to sparkaction.)

James Bell, Founder and Executive Director of the W. Haywood Burns Institute (BI) -- see photo at left -- has been working in over 40 jurisdictions throughout the country to reduce the disproportionality of youth of color in the juvenile justice system.
On Thursday, July 8th at 1 pm PST / 4 pm EST, Mr. Bell will present a webinar for Reclaiming Futures on the history of this work and the approach the Burns Institute takes when working with communities to address issues related to reducing Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC). Advanced registration is required. [UPDATE: July 8th has come and gone, but you can still listen to the recording of the webinar with James Bell, or download his presentation slides.]

It's not a secret that many youth in juvenile court struggle with symptoms related to trauma, but it can be hard to remember in court, when faced with a defiant youth who's been repeatedly delinquent. 
So it's great to see a new publication from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 10 Things Every Juvenile Court Judge Should Know about Trauma and Delinquency. (Even though it seems to be aimed only at judges, it's useful for all staff who work with or in juvenile court.)

 
Teens in Lockup - a Documentary and a Photo Project about Juveniles in the Justice System

• Click on the screen shot at right to check out four short clips from "Juvies," an award-winning documentary from 2004 focusing on youth in California's juvenile justice system who were tried as adults and received extremely harsh sentences (photo at right is of "Sandra). You might also be interested in the "syllabus" assembled by the filmmakers in response to frequent requests for additional classroom resources to supplement the film. 

• Photographer Ara Oshagan, who shot the B-roll for "Juvies," recently produced a documentary photo project called, "Juvies: a Collaborative Portrait of Juvenile Offenders," featuring youth in Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall, along with text written by the youth. You can learn more about Oshagan and how his experiences awakened an interest in juvenile justice reform here.