Models for Change Custom feed

Developing Service Delivery Systems for Evaluations of Juveniles’ Competence to Stand Trial: A Guide for States and Counties

05/08/2017 10:42 AM

Apr 24, 2017 | Thomas Grisso, PhD, Ivan Kruh | PUBLICATIONS

In partnership with NCMHJJ and with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Youth Screening and Assessment Partners (NYSAP) has released Developing Service Delivery Systems for Evaluations of Juveniles’ Competence to Stand Trial: A Guide for States and Counties. The purpose of the guide is to help states or counties develop a forensic evaluation system (FES) for providing courts evaluations of juveniles’ competence to stand trial (JCST). An FES for JCST evaluations has three components that are described in the guide’s three modules:

Module 1: Developing a JCST Evaluation Service Delivery System
Module 2: Creating Evaluation Standards
Module 3: Quality Control: Developing a Process to Apply the Standards

This guide will be of special interest to state/county directors and managers of child forensic mental health services, juvenile court clinic administrators and clinicians, juvenile court judges and administrators, state juvenile justice advocacy groups, and community providers of services to youth in the juvenile justice system.

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Policy Brief: Assuring the Future of Developmental Reform in Juvenile Justice

05/08/2017 10:37 AM

Apr 24, 2017 | Thomas Grisso, PhD | PUBLICATIONS

The mid-1990s saw the beginning of resistance to the punitive reform in juvenile justice that had gripped the nation for about ten years. A new perspective on juvenile justice arose, acknowledging that adolescents needed a different response to their offending than for adults. The reform proposed that a developmental approach, consistent with adolescents’ relative immaturity, would offer better prospects for youth and public safety. During the ensuing twenty years, this developmental reform took hold nationwide and began changing the face of juvenile justice.

Lessons of history tell us that policy reforms require maintenance. They may be robust initially but meet changing times that challenge their continuance. Sometimes they have inherent vulnerabilities. What are the future challenges to the recent developmental reform in juvenile justice? How can it best be sustained?

The MacArthur Foundation, during the final year of its Models for Change initiative, supported a project to address these questions. It sought consensus among an expert panel about challenges facing the future of the developmental reform in juvenile justice and what might be needed to sustain it. This brief is based on the panel’s consensus.

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Adolescent Legal Competence in Court

11/03/2016 03:11 PM

Jan 1, 2009 | MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice | PUBLICATIONS

One of the pillars of the American justice system is the assurance that those who stand accused of crimes be mentally competent to understand and participate in their trials. The conventional standard for competence has typically focused on the effects of mental illness or mental retardation on individuals’ capacities to grasp the nature of their trials or their abilities to decide how to plead. Yet as the courts, both juvenile and adult, see increasingly younger defendants some argue that the law should also take into account adolescents’ lesser capacities owing to emotional and psychological immaturity.

This brief details findings from the first comprehensive assessment of juvenile capacities to participate in criminal proceedings using measures of both trial-related abilities and developmental maturity. The MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice compared the responses of youth and adults in a series of hypothetical legal situations, such as plea bargains, police interrogations, and attorney-client interactions. Responses revealed the degree to which participants understood the long-term consequences of their decisions, their ability to weigh risks, and other factors related to developmental and cognitive maturity. Findings show that a significant portion of youth, especially under age 15, are likely unable to participate competently in their own trials, either in an adult or juvenile court, owing to developmental immaturity.

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Models for Change 10th Annual Working Conference Conference Highlights

04/26/2016 09:13 AM

Feb 29, 2016 | Models for Change | PUBLICATIONS

The 10th and final Models for Change Annual Working Conference was a fitting celebration of the Models for Change initiative and its many successes. Nearly 450 people, representing 46 states, attended sessions from December 13-15th, 2015 at the JW Marriott in Washington, DC.

While the Models for Change initiative is coming to an end, we hope that the Models for Change community can remain connected. One critical component of our success together was sharing information and resources among participants at the local, state level and national level. The Resource Center Partners are continuing their work and the Models for Change website will remain a valuable resource. These resources and the spirit of collaboration we created will go a long way toward preserving our successes, mitigating threats to reform and advancing the field of juvenile justice.

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Adolescent Legal Competence in Court

04/19/2016 02:00 PM

Jan 1, 2009 | MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice | PUBLICATIONS

This brief details findings from the first comprehensive assessment of juvenile capacities to participate in criminal proceedings using measures of both trial-related abilities an developmental maturity. The MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice compared the responses of youth and adults in a series on hypothetical legal situations, such as plea bargains, police interrogations, and attorney-client interactions. Responses revealed the degree to which participants understood the long-term consequences of their decisions, their ability to weigh risks, and other factors related to developmental and cognitive maturity. Findings show that a significant portion of youth, especially under age 15, are likely unable to participate competently in their own trials, either in an adult or juvenile court, owing to developmental immaturity.

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Role of Juvenile Defense Counsel in Delinquency Court

04/19/2016 01:55 PM

Jan 1, 2009 | National Juvenile Defender Center | PUBLICATIONS

This policy paper describes the critical and specialized role of the juvenile defender and reflects best practices as defined by the field—front-line defenders, social workers, academics, and other juvenile justice advocates working in our nation’s juvenile delinquency courts every day. The goal of Role of Juvenile Counsel in Delinquency Court is to educate judges, prosecutors, probation officers, and other juvenile justice professionals about the importance of the juvenile defender’s responsibility to advocate for the client’s expressed interests.

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Research to Practice Memo: How City Leaders Can Draw Upon Adolescent Development Research Findings To Provide a Framework for Juvenile Justice Reform

04/19/2016 01:31 PM

Apr 4, 2016 | National League of Cities | PUBLICATIONS

The new Research to Practice Memo: How City Leaders Can Draw Upon Adolescent Development Research Findings to Provide a Framework for Juvenile Justice Reform provides a ready resource for city leaders who want to apply the most up-to-date research on adolescence to local juvenile justice reform initiatives. Supported by a wealth of juvenile justice reform resources, cities across the country continue to reform how local agencies respond to misbehaving or delinquent youth.

The Memo outlines how city leaders stand to reach better public safety and youth development outcomes by:

creating a robust continuum of community-based alternatives to the juvenile justice system,
making the first point of contact with police an opportunity for referral to services, and
using risk and needs assessments to match the right youth with the right services.

In addition, city leaders can publicly call for their partners in county or state juvenile justice agencies to align their services and policies with research about what works for adolescents.

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JJGPS State Assessments of Disproportionate Minority Contact

04/14/2016 10:19 AM

Dec 1, 2015 | JJGPS | PUBLICATIONS

States are required to report data to monitor the overrepresentation of youth of color in juvenile justice. In addition to reporting data, states are required to submit an assessment of DMC to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. This four page brief provides an overview which states also make these assessments publicly available and provides an overview of the challenges states faces in conducting the research and the range of reform recommendations they make.

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Evidence-Based Policies, Programs, and Practices in Juvenile Justice: Three States Achieving High Standards Through State Support Centers

03/31/2016 12:32 PM

Mar 16, 2016 | Douglas Thomas, Nina Hyland, Teri Deal, Andrew Wachter, and Samantha Zaleski | PUBLICATIONS

Evidence-Based Policies, Programs and Practices in Juvenile Justice (13 pages) provides case studies of three jurisdictions achieving high standards through state support centers. The jurisdictions were selected based on a 50-state survey of efforts to support evidence-based policies, programs and practices (EBPs) and selects examples that reflect an evolution toward greater sophistication and support for EBPs.

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Strengthening Our Future: Key Elements to Developing a Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice Diversion Program for Youth with Behavioral Health Conditions

03/29/2016 03:34 PM

Dec 21, 2015 | National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice | PUBLICATIONS

Diverting youth from the juvenile justice system to effective community-based services and supports will require systems that recognize and respond to trauma-related disorders. These include the front-end gatekeepers and decision makers (i.e., probation departments and courts), as well as the full array of community agencies that can provide healing, treatment, and support to youth and their families.

This report is intended to offer a description of a trauma-informed juvenile justice diversion approach with examples of how some states are beginning to address and implement trauma-informed systems of care for youth and their families. It begins with a discussion of trauma and its effects on youth, especially those with behavioral health conditions. This is followed by a discussion of the types of trauma-related disorders, the behavioral manifestations of trauma that youth may display, and a summary of factors that affect the severity of trauma-related disorders. The report then describes nine key elements of a trauma-informed approach within the context of juvenile justice diversion. Case examples are included from each of the states participating in the 2014-15 Policy Academy–Action Network Initiative.

This initiative, coordinated by the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice (NCMHJJ) and the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC), was jointly funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Foundation). As part of SAMHSA’s Strategic Initiative on Trauma and Justice and the Foundation’s Models for Change Initiative, this effort focused on improving policies and programs for diverting youth with behavioral health conditions from the juvenile justice system to appropriate community-based services and supports.

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Adolescent Domestic Battery Typology Tool Manual

02/24/2016 10:07 AM

Dec 8, 2015 | Wendy Nussbaum, M.A., LCPC, Stuart M. Berry, M.S.W., LISW, Shannon Hartnett, M.A., Gina M. Vincent, Ph.D. | PUBLICATIONS

There has been an increase in the number of youth referred to the juvenile justice system for charges related to abusing their parents. The Adolescent Domestic Battery Typologies Tool (ADBTT) was developed over the span of five years to provide a greater understanding of these youth. It was designed using a combination of the available research literature, a multi-site validation study, and clinical experience to fill a niche in the assessment of a population that has not been well understood. This assessment tool provides a structured framework to help inform case processing, dispositional, and treatment decisions based on an assessment of youths’ risk for future Adolescent Domestic Battery (ADB). Implementation of the ADBTT early in the juvenile justice process should lead to diverting the “right” youths away from formal processing with minimum intervention.

Read the executive summary.

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A Legislated Study of Raising the Age of Juvenile Jurisdiction in Louisiana

02/16/2016 01:11 PM

Feb 15, 2016 | Institute for Public Health and Justice | PUBLICATIONS

Louisiana should strongly consider raising the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to include 17-year-old offenders. Findings suggest that this change would benefit public safety, promote youth rehabilitation, and create long-term savings.

Crime by youthful offenders continues to trouble Louisiana communities but at reduced rates according to arrest trends over the last decade. This reduction in juvenile crime, accompanied with several reforms in the justice system, has created a smaller and more resilient juvenile justice system. Appropriately resourced, it should be able to absorb the impact of raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction while increasing public safety.

This study, authorized by the Louisiana State Legislature in House Concurrent Resolution No. 73 of the 2015 Regular session, was completed at an expedited pace over a six-month period to meet the deadlines established in the resolution. With the involvement of key stakeholders in the justice system from across Louisiana and input from national partners who have worked to study raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction in other states, three key findings of this study are summarized below.

There is a growing consensus, based on a large body of scientific evidence, that 17-year-olds are developmentally different than adults and should be treated as such. They have a far greater potential for rehabilitation and are particularly influenced – for good or ill – by the environments in which they are placed.
The last several years of reform in the Louisiana juvenile justice system have created a capacity to accept, manage, and rehabilitate these youth in a manner that will predictably generate better outcomes than the adult system.
The initial impact projections are generally lower than states that have recently gone before Louisiana in raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction, and those states found that the impact on the system was substantially less than first predicted. In fact, states have reported substantial fiscal savings. We have reason to suspect this will be the same for Louisiana.

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A Retroactive Break for Juvenile Offenders

01/28/2016 02:33 PM

Jan 26, 2016 | Matt Ford | The Atlantic | NEWSROOM

For the Montgomery majority on Monday, Miller clearly created a substantive rule to be applied retroactively. “Because Miller determined that sentencing a child to life without parole is excessive for all but ‘the rare juvenile offender whose crime reflects irreparable corruption,’ it rendered life without parole an unconstitutional penalty for ‘a class of defendants because of their status’—that is, juvenile offenders whose crimes reflect the transient…

Editorial: The Supreme Court Says Again: Juveniles Are Different

01/28/2016 02:21 PM

Jan 28, 2016 | Editorial Board | The New York Times | NEWSROOM

The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly over the last decade that it is morally and constitutionally wrong to equate offenses committed by emotionally undeveloped adolescents with crimes carried out by adults. It made this point again on Monday when it ruled that people who were sentenced to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole as juveniles have the right to seek parole. . . The Montgomery decision will bring justice to some. But the court’s finding that juveniles…

Court Decision Brings Hope, Uncertainty for Juveniles Sentenced to Life

01/28/2016 02:14 PM

Jan 25, 2016 | Staff | Juvenile Justice Information Exchange | NEWSROOM

Attorneys who specialize in juvenile justice called today’s Supreme Court decision “potentially sweeping” but warned that resentencing hearings were far from a sure path to freedom. The Supreme Court ruled today 6-3 in Montgomery v. Louisiana that prisoners serving mandatory life sentences without parole for murders they committed as juveniles should have a chance at release via a resentencing hearing. Though parole boards will now have to review the sentences, they won't…

How Marsha Levick Changed the Face of Juvenile Justice

01/27/2016 12:27 PM

Jan 27, 2016 | Samantha Melamed | Philadelphia Inquirer | NEWSROOM

On Monday, more than 500 Pennsylvania inmates sentenced as juveniles to die in prison - 300 of them from Philadelphia - learned they'll have a chance at release after all. The news is potentially life-changing for them. And for Marsha Levick, 64, of Bala Cynwyd, it's the culmination of a life's work.

Barack Obama: Why we must rethink solitary confinement

01/27/2016 12:20 PM

Jan 25, 2016 | Barack Obama | Washington Post | NEWSROOM

"How can we subject prisoners to unnecessary solitary confinement, knowing its effects, and then expect them to return to our communities as whole people? It doesn’t make us safer. It’s an affront to our common humanity. The Justice Department has completed its review, and I am adopting its recommendations to reform the federal prison system. These include banning solitary confinement for juveniles and as a response to low-level infractions, expanding treatment for the mentally ill…

U.S. Supreme Court: Prior Finding That Mandatory Life without Parole Sentences for Youth Are Unconstitutional Now Found Retroactive

01/27/2016 12:05 PM

Jan 25, 2016 | Staff | Juvenile Law Center | NEWSROOM

In a key win for individuals nationwide who are serving life without parole sentences for crimes committed as children, the United States Supreme Court today ruled 6-3 in Montgomery v. Louisiana that their 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama, barring mandatory life without parole sentences for youth, applies retroactively. Today’s decision guarantees that 69-year-old Henry Montgomery, along with as many as 2,000 others serving similar mandatory life without parole sentences, will receive…

Justices Expand Parole Rights for Juveniles Sentenced to Life for Murder

01/27/2016 11:58 AM

Jan 25, 2016 | Adam Liptak | The New York Times | NEWSROOM

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that its 2012 decision banning mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile killers must be applied retroactively, granting a new chance at release for hundreds of inmates serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for murders they committed in their youth. The vote was 6 to 3, and the majority decision was written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the court’s leading proponent of cutting back on the death penalty and other harsh…

Lessons from Five Years of Accelerating Change

12/21/2015 10:34 AM

Dec 14, 2015 | National Campaign to Reform State Juvenile Justice Systems | PUBLICATIONS

After two decades of funding cutting-edge research on adolescent behavioral and brain development and pioneering new juvenile justice practice models, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation decided to reinforce those successes with a more direct approach to promoting systemic policy reforms.

The Foundation launched the National Campaign to Reform State Juvenile Justice Systems (National Campaign) in in November 2010. This report outlines the successes of the National Campaign in helping advocates and state elected and appointed officials to replace ineffective and harsh juvenile justice policies with ones that treat youth fairly, enhance public safety, reduce costs to taxpayers and improve outcomes for youth and their families.

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The “Becca Bill” 20 Years Later: How Washington’s Truancy Laws Negatively Impact Children

12/15/2015 11:34 PM

Dec 15, 2015 | Vera Institute of Justice | PUBLICATIONS

The Becca laws have made Washington State the country’s foremost jailer of children for “status offenses” like skipping school. It allows parents to use legal petitions called ARY (At Risk Youth) to obtain court orders that require children to participate in social services, attend school, and obey guardians. However, poverty—not insufficient parental authority—is the primary cause of truancy. The law also makes things much harder for children who are already laboring under social stigma and racism. As momentum builds nationwide toward creating less punitive juvenile justice systems, it is time to examine our truancy laws.

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Notes from the Field: Newtown County, GA

12/15/2015 11:25 PM

Dec 15, 2015 | Vera Institute of Justice | PUBLICATIONS

This profile describes the development of the Truancy Intervention Board in Newton County, GA. This Board aims to divert youth away from the formal court process by addressing problems of truancy and educational neglect outside the courtroom, with the support of invested community stakeholders. The profile includes a summary of the county’s planning process, an overview of monitoring strategies, a snapshot of general program outcomes, and reflections from those in the reform movement.

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SORC Toolkit Module 4: Monitoring and Sustaining System Change

12/15/2015 11:10 PM

Dec 8, 2014 | Vera Institute of Justice | PUBLICATIONS

Monitoring and Sustaining System Change describes three common strategies for evaluating reform efforts: (1) performance monitoring, (2) process evaluations, and (3) outcome evaluations. Because evaluating system-level reforms can be challenging, this module aims to help you determine the most appropriate approach for assessing your reform efforts right now and provide you with ideas about how to continue monitoring your reform down the line.

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Fact Sheet on Automatic Transfer Bill from Spring, 2015

12/15/2015 11:01 PM

Dec 14, 2015 | Juvenile Justice Initiative | PUBLICATIONS

Fact sheet on HB3718 SA1, a bill related to automatic transfer that summarizes the need for the reform, what the bill does and does not do and the list of supporters of the bill.

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Arrests of Young Adults in Illinois, CY2013

12/15/2015 10:57 PM

Dec 15, 2015 | Juvenile Justice Initiative | PUBLICATIONS

Research shows that the adolescent brain does not fully develop until age 25, yet people are criminalized as adults after age 16 or 17. In order to explore young adults in conflict with the law, JJI looked at the arrests of people ages 18-21 in Illinois in CY 2013. Findings include that the arrests of young adults has been decreasing in the past 5 years and that over 60^ of all young adult arrests were for misdemeanors.

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Juvenile Justice Agency Leaders and Managers Checklist

12/15/2015 10:50 PM

Dec 15, 2015 | Council of State Governments Justice Center | PUBLICATIONS

Provides a comprehensive online assessment and scoring tool to enable agency leaders to identify system strengths, areas for improvement, and develop an action plan to improve outcomes for youth.

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Statewide Risk Assessment in Juvenile Probation

12/15/2015 10:33 PM

Dec 15, 2015 | National Center for Juvenile Justice | PUBLICATIONS

This StateScan publication released for the project addresses the prevalence of risk assessment tools in juvenile probation. This is the first time NCJJ has conducted a scan of risk assessment practices at the state level in juvenile probation.

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Pennsylvania DMC Youth Law Enforcement Corporation Brochure

12/15/2015 10:27 PM

Dec 15, 2015 | Pennsylvania DMC Youth-Law Enforcement Corporation | PUBLICATIONS

This brochure describes the history, mission, and efforts of the Pennsylvania DMC Youth-Law Enforcement Corporation in eliminate the over-representation of youth of color in the Pennsylvania juvenile justice system.

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Improving Youth Outcomes, Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice 2015 Operating Plan Summary

12/15/2015 10:19 PM

Dec 15, 2015 | Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice | PUBLICATIONS

To help fulfill the Department's mission and to direct its actions, the agency developed and is now implementing a comprehensive operating plan for 2015. The Operating Plan was the result of a six-month strategic planning initiative funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The operational plan focused on five core priorities: Right-Size: Reduce the use of secure custody for low risk youth; Rehabilitate: Improve programs to meet the needs of high-risk youth; Reintegrate: Improve programs to ensure successful reentry; Respect: Create a safe and respectful environment for youth and staff; and, Report: Increase transparency and accountability.

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Identifying Dual Status Youth with Trauma-Related Problems

12/15/2015 10:02 PM

Dec 15, 2015 | RFK National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice | PUBLICATIONS

How would an agency put in place a way to identify dual status youths’ trauma-related needs? That is the question addressed in this second brief in a series on trauma-related procedures for youth who have been touched by both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The first brief described the prevalence of trauma-based behavior problems among dual status youth and introduced the need to improve our ability to identify those problems so that we can offer those youth proper interventions. Here we examine how to go about setting up a system for identifying trauma-related problems.

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Dependency and Delinquency in SYNC (Serving Youth in Newton County, Georgia)

12/15/2015 09:34 PM

Dec 11, 2014 | RFK National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice | PUBLICATIONS

Youth who touch both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, known as dual status youth, present complex, resource-intensive cases and tend to experience poor outcomes. A new report, Dependency and Delinquency in SYNC, describes how courts can support community efforts to integrate and coordinate youth-serving system and improve outcomes for dual status youth, and demonstrates how these strategies have been successfully implemented in Newton County’s (Georgia) project: Serving Youth in Newton County (SYNC). This report was released as part of the National Center for State Courts’ Future Trends in State Courts.

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School Discipline Consensus Report: Strategies from the Field to Keep Students Engaged in School and Out of the Juvenile Justice System

12/15/2015 09:17 PM

Dec 15, 2015 | Council of State Governments Justice Center | PUBLICATIONS

This report presents a comprehensive set of consensus-based and field-driven recommendations to improve conditions for learning for all students and educators, better support students with behavioral needs, improve police-schools partnerships, and keep students out of the juvenile justice system for minor offenses. The report draws on real-world strategies and research to promote truly multidisciplinary approaches to reducing the millions of youth suspended, expelled, and arrested each year while creating safe and supportive schools for all educators and students.

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Champion for Change Dr. John Chapman

12/08/2015 12:22 PM

Dec 8, 2015 | Lucy Louisa Flower (Posthumous) | Models for Change | NEWSROOM

Dedicated to Improving the Outcomes of Vulnerable Youth Juvenile Court Clinic Connecticut Judicial Branch Read the complete 2014 Champions for Change program. John Chapman made an enormous impact when he dedicated the latter part of his life to the field of juvenile justice. His passing on March 29, 2015 at the age of 52 was a big loss for his colleagues and the juvenile justice field. But, as one of his colleagues noted, that while “there may be no monuments to him or large…

Champion for Change Lisa J. Bjergaard

12/08/2015 12:07 PM

Dec 14, 2015 | State Leadership | Models for Change | NEWSROOM

Training for Compassion and Understanding Director, North Dakota Division of Juvenile Services Read the complete 2014 Champions for Change program. Bjergaard joined the North Dakota Division of Juvenile Services as a Case Manager in 1989 and moved through the ranks until promoted to Director in 2006. In 2014, her department applied to receive mental health training from the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice (NCMHJJ) as part of a program funded by Models for…

Champion for Change Honorable Michael A. Nutter

12/08/2015 11:58 AM

Dec 14, 2015 | Local Leadership | Models for Change | NEWSROOM

Leadership for Breaking the Cycle Mayor, City of Philadelphia Read the complete 2014 Champions for Change program. Mayor Michael Nutter has the rare quality of seeing how law enforcement and the juvenile justice system can actively contribute to positive changes n the lives of young people. Even as his second--and final--term as Mayor of Philadelphia winds down, Mayor Nutter is not slowing his efforts to ensure “that every single child has the opportunity to…

Champion for Change Jason Szanyi

12/08/2015 11:09 AM

Dec 14, 2015 | Next Generation | Models for Change | NEWSROOM

We Want Another Jason Director of Institutional Reform, Center for Children’s Law and Policy Read the complete 2014 Champions for Change program. When he graduated from Harvard Law School in 2009, Jason Szanyi did not use the prestige of his new degree to pursue a position at a high-flying law firm. Instead, he took a fellowship working to address racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system. Public interest took precedence over personal gain. Fortunately, all around…

Malloy: Raise the age for juvenile justice system to 20

11/13/2015 02:36 PM

Nov 6, 2015 | Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Mark Paniokas | The Connecticut Mirror | NEWSROOM

A 20-year-old who gets into a fight or is caught stealing faces serious jail time if convicted. In a far-ranging policy speech about bail reform and juvenile justice Friday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he no longer wants that to be the case. His proposal would divert thousands of people aged 18 to 20 from the adult corrections system and would instead treat them as juveniles. And he indicated that he wants to consider alternative ways to handle those under 25 who commit less-serious…

Pennsylvania Won’t Disclose Names of Doctors Prescribing in Youth Corrections

11/13/2015 02:29 PM

Nov 1, 2015 | Halle Stockton | Juvenile Justice Information Exchange | NEWSROOM

Pennsylvania defied an Office of Open Records ruling and took the matter to court to conceal the names of doctors prescribing to kids confined in its six correctional facilities. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services insisted the physicians who care for and prescribe for the state’s most chronic or violent youth offenders would be endangered if their names were made public. PublicSource requested the names of the doctors with whom the state contracts to determine their…

Where’s the Oversight of Psychiatric Meds for Pennsylvania Youth Offenders?

11/13/2015 02:24 PM

Oct 28, 2015 | Halle Stockton | Juvenile Justice Information Exchange | NEWSROOM

Pennsylvania is lagging when it comes to tracking the powerful psychiatric medications kids get in the state’s youth correctional facilities. While other states have reformed the way they control and track such medications so that it is done systemwide, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services follows only the total amount paid for the drugs prescribed in its six facilities on a systemic basis. Everything else is looked at on an individual resident and facility basis. Experts and…

Pennsylvania Juvenile Offenders Given Psychiatric Drugs at High Rates

11/13/2015 02:22 PM

Oct 25, 2015 | Halle Stockton | Juvenile Justice Information Exchange | NEWSROOM

It’s the end of the line for these Pennsylvania kids. They’ve fallen through every safety net, and they keep making the same mistakes or more violent ones. The kids — nearly all black or white teenage boys — are sent hours away from their families to youth correctional facilities, sterile lock-downs surrounded by barbed wire or cabins so far out in the wilderness they’re considered secure even without a fence. They are the toughest kids in the juvenile justice…

50 State Teams Gather to Develop Plans for Improving Youth Outcomes in Each State Juvenile Justice System

11/13/2015 09:26 AM

Nov 10, 2015 | CSG Justice Center | Council of State Governments Justice Center | NEWSROOM

AUSTIN, TX—On the heels of new data showing massive reductions in the number of youth incarcerated, legislators, judges, juvenile justice administrators and other representatives from all 50 states met to tackle the next big challenge: making sure supervision and services provided in the correctional facilities and in the community reduce the likelihood youth will be rearrested and end up in the adult criminal justice system. “The recently released figures describing the plunging…

High-Profile Law Enforcement Officials Pledge Support for Curbing Incarceration

10/22/2015 02:34 PM

Oct 22, 2015 | Sarah Barr | Juvenile Justice Information Exchange | NEWSROOM

WASHINGTON — A group of more than 130 law enforcement officials have banded together with a pledge to reduce incarceration rates, in part through improved community relations. And while they aren't focused on juvenile justice, some members of the group said the treatment of adolescents matters to their effort. Leaders of the group said Wednesday at a press conference that law enforcement can help reduce a reliance on incarceration without threatening public safety. Their message comes…

Decision Points: Prosecutors Have Opportunities to Reduce Incarceration and Disparities Through Risk Assessment

10/20/2015 01:00 PM

Oct 14, 2015 | George Gascon | The Huffington Post | NEWSROOM

Defining new models for success in a system that is so steeped in tradition takes courage, and it takes vision. As a prosecutor and chief law enforcement leader with more than 30 years of service, I believe it is incumbent upon prosecutors to identify new models of public safety that reduce both incarceration and unwarranted racial disparities. While these are challenging goals, a modern justice system that embraces data and evaluation can indeed make real progress. Risk-based assessment tools…

House Lawmakers Urged to Fund Juvenile Justice programs

10/20/2015 12:56 PM

Oct 8, 2015 | Lydia Wheeler | The Hill | NEWSROOM

Advocates for incarcerated youth urged House lawmakers Thursday to reauthorize federal legislation to fund treatment programs and reform the juvenile justice system. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), which Congress passed in 1974, was last reauthorized in 2002. The law established core protections and mandates for states regarding the treatment of children in the system, authorized federal state grants, provided funding for delinquency prevention and created an…

Supreme Court Reluctant to Rule on Juvenile Murderers' Life Sentences

10/20/2015 12:48 PM

Oct 13, 2015 | Richard Wolf | USA Today | NEWSROOM

WASHINGTON -- About 1,500 prisoners convicted of murder as juveniles and given mandatory sentences of life without parole may have to wait a bit longer to have their hopes for new sentences decided by the Supreme Court. A majority of justices on Tuesday appeared to believe that they lacked jurisdiction to decide whether states such as Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and others must apply a ban on such mandatory sentences retroactively to those convicted years or even decades ago.

At 40, Juvenile Law Center's Biggest Case Yet: Seeking Second Chance for Juvenile Lifers

10/20/2015 12:31 PM

Oct 14, 2015 | Samantha Melamed | Philadelphia Inquirer | NEWSROOM

Founded on a shoestring by four new Temple Law graduates in 1975, JLC has been involved in a string of Supreme Court cases that have rolled back some of the harshest sentences for juveniles across the country. The firm has also worked on statewide juvenile-justice and child welfare reforms, and it's taken on some of the most troubling cases around the region, including the "Kids for Cash" scandal in Luzerne County and harsh solitary confinement practices in New Jersey. "They've been at the…

New NLC Collaboration to Provide Mental Health Training to Police Officers Working in Schools

10/02/2015 10:08 AM

Sep 22, 2015 | Laura Furr | National League of Cities | NEWSROOM

Police officers who respond to the developmental and mental health needs of youth in an informed and age-appropriate way help ensure the safety of everyone in schools, from students to teachers and staff. These officers also contribute to making neighborhoods and communities safer. However, like all law enforcement personnel, they need adequate training to do their jobs well. In service of this, NLC is collaborating with the Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Collaborative for Change…

Presidential Proclamation -- National Youth Justice Awareness Month, 2015

10/02/2015 09:50 AM

Oct 1, 2015 | Staff | The White House | NEWSROOM

NATIONAL YOUTH JUSTICE AWARENESS MONTH, 2015 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION All our Nation's children deserve the chance to fulfill their greatest potential, and nothing should limit the scope of their futures. But all too often, our juvenile and criminal justice systems weigh our young people down so heavily that they cannot reach their piece of the American dream. When that happens, America is deprived of immeasurable…

Maryland Juvenile Suspects Will No Longer Be Shackled in Court

09/24/2015 02:53 PM

Sep 23, 2015 | Colin Campbell | Baltimore Sun | NEWSROOM

Children will no longer be indiscriminately shackled in Maryland juvenile courts, a routine practice in more than half of the state's jurisdictions, according to the state public defender. The anti-shackling policy, adopted this week by the Maryland Court of Appeals and the state Judicial Council, is based on a resolution by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. "Shackling humiliates young people, recalls past trauma and limits their access to justice," Maryland Public…

Girls Incarcerated Longer for Less Serious Offenses, Texas Study Shows

09/24/2015 02:46 PM

Sep 22, 2015 | Joe Guszkowsk | Juvenile Justice Information Exchange | NEWSROOM

Girls serve longer sentences than boys in the Texas juvenile justice system, and for less serious offenses, according to a new study from the University of Texas at Austin. Researchers studied 5,019 juveniles in three large, urban Texas counties over two years, finding that a female’s likelihood of remaining in confinement was 12.5 percent greater than that of a male. Females were held longer for less serious offenses, the study found. They were released at a much slower pace than their…