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For juvenile offenders, art can be an outlet

PEORIA — Unusually long and wide, the main hallway at the Peoria County Juvenile Detention Center would be intimidating if there weren’t the giant frog at one end.

The frog sits on a lily pad in a placid blue pond surrounded by cattails and a perfect summer sky, offering respite in a very serious setting. Between the vibrant color, the charming kid-friendly illustration, and the wonders of the natural world, the scene is a pleasant oasis for both the center’s young residents and the adults who work there.

Sentenced To Adulthood: Direct File Laws Bypass Juvenile Justice System

Orange County, Fla., leads the state in juvenile arrests, according to data from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The majority of those arrests are felonies charged to black boys. In this five-part series, 90.7 WMFE reporter Renata Sago (@renatasago) documents Orange County's complex system for handling kids who commit crimes. The stories are told through the lens of three black men who were charged with felonies as children.

Civil Rights Groups In New Jersey Say ‘Youth Prisons Are a New Form of Slavery’ and Should Be Abolished

The New Jersey Training School for Boys has been a youth incarceration center for 150 years and is the state of New Jersey’s largest prison for juveniles. Known as “Jamesburg,” the correctional facility in Monroe Township, N.J., first opened its doors on June 28, 1867, and today houses about 200 boys.

But on Jamesburg’s 150th birthday, a coalition of more than 40 civil rights activists, including the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, the NAACP, the ACLU of New Jersey and members of the clergy, launched a campaign to close the youth prison as well as its counterpart for girls, the Female Secure Care and Intake Facility.

More eyes being fixed on Volusia-Flagler juveniles on probation

DAYTONA BEACH — It’s getting more difficult for a select group of young people on probation to elude the watchful eyes of law enforcement in Volusia and Flagler counties.

Smartphones are a part of the reason, but so is a new deal with the state that has Volusia County sheriff’s deputies joining Daytona Beach police officers in keeping track of juvenile offenders.