Yes, this year was one of the worst in recent memory. But what if I told you there’s reason to hope — that there is still some good to latch on to?
Well, there is. Here are 11 criminal justice victories to prove it.
The Michigan Juvenile Detention Association will continue to be a national leader in promoting and sustaining of exemplary juvenile detention, residential treatment, and community based services for youth and their families.
The Michigan Juvenile Detention Association is committed to the highest standard of professional ethics, overall excellence in the care and custody of youth, and the provision of services to their families.
All in Ideas and Opinions
Yes, this year was one of the worst in recent memory. But what if I told you there’s reason to hope — that there is still some good to latch on to?
Well, there is. Here are 11 criminal justice victories to prove it.
ITS BEEN NEARLY TWO YEARS SINCE SCOTUS RULED JUVENILE LIFERS SHOULD HAVE A CHANCE TO COME HOME. TODAY, LESS THAN 10% IN THE STATE HAVE DONE SO.
It’s essential to figure out why there are so many more children in the system
Circuit Judge Linda Pauel talks about starting a book program for young defendants in her chambers Thursday, August 24, 2017, at the Juvenile Court Building in Chicago. Judge Pauel has a shelf of books in her courtroom that she often lends to juveniles.
This year, legislators in both New York and North Carolina took great steps towards improving public safety and providing meaningful rehabilitative services to young people across their states. Elected leaders in both of these states raised the age at which youth will be handled in family court, joining the growing national consensus that youth under 18 years of age should not be in the adult criminal justice system.
Sometimes Congress gets it right. This summer, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security held a hearing on juvenile justice reform. The hearing was a call to end the draconian practices of institutionalizing America’s juvenile offenders. The committee's chairman, U.S Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) stated in his opening remarks, “We can all agree that Juvenile offenders must be treated differently than adult offenders.”
In Richmond, the city has hired ex-convicts to mentor dozens of its most violent offenders and allows them to take unconventional steps if it means preventing the next homicide.
Who would pay former gang members to help them go to college? A program in Dorchester, a neighborhood in Boston, is doing just that — and for some of its students, it seems to be working.
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.
The consequences system-involved youth experience by not having these essential records include potential housing instability, the inability to pursue certain educational opportunities and financial aid, and lack of access to public benefits. Not having identification can also be a barrier to employment.
The California Legislature should pass Senate Bill 190 and lead a national movement to end the practice of charging parents for the costs of children being in the juvenile justice system. Under current law, counties can charge parents or guardians for detaining minors, as well as for electronic monitors, substance use testing, probation, and home supervision. Such charges yield little net revenue or benefit for the government, but impose enormous financial burdens on families.
How parents are gerrymandering school borders and fencing out poor kids.
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.
When HB 239 passed in March, legislators understood that the sweeping changes to the juvenile justice system mandated by the bill wouldn’t take place overnight. As officials work toward implementation, public hearings explaining the changes have taken place throughout Utah.
A group of Tennessee state legislators, lawyers and judges are trying to prepare a bill that would reform state sentencing laws for juveniles who have committed serious crimes. This is part of the series "Sentencing Children."
os Angeles County’s impressive Campus Kilpatrick opens its doors Friday and will welcome its first juvenile residents next month, and that is cause for cautious optimism and careful stock-taking in the county’s troubled Probation Department.
WASHINGTON — A white board with a giant illustration of the human brain sat in the middle of the room, a constant reminder, participants said, that any real attempts to treat juvenile offenders begins not with detention or tough love, but with science.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) within youth, defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an injury to the head that causes disruption of the normal function of the brain, is fast becoming an issue of concern for parents across the United States.
Ronald Elston spent more than 30 years in prison, with no preparation for what he would do if he got out.
Reflecting on National Siblings Day, in a juvenile justice context, reminds us that if we had ever been caught doing the delinquent acts we may have done as kids, we would be denied the support of some of the closest people to us.