Sarah Jones is a senior at an East Oakland high school. She is eighteen, and was recently accepted to Loyola University on a full scholarship, where she plans to study psychology. But like many teenagers, Jones has had difficulty adjusting to adulthood. "I'm adopted and I'm multi-racial, so I never really felt comfortable in my own skin," she said. "It's been tough trying to figure out where I fit in."
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Families Unlocking Futures: A new report by and for families
Wednesday, 19 September 2012 12:42
On September 10 2012, Justice for Families and research partner the DataCenter released Families Unlocking Futures: Solutions to the Crisis in Juvenile Justice. This report offers first-of-its kind analysis that details how the juvenile justice system does more to feed the nation’s vast prison system than to deter or redirect young people from system involvement; and demonstrates the incredible damage the system causes to families and communities.
In August, a state appeals court panel ruled that New Jersey juveniles currently housed in youth detention facilities were entitled to hearings before being transferred to adult prisons, according to The Record.
The three-judge appeals panel overturned the transfer of a Cumberland County man – a juvenile at the time of committing his crimes – who was sent to South Woods State Prison in November 2011. Following the decision, a Juvenile Justice Commission Staff will now be required to hold hearings that will allow the detainee to challenge the legality of the transfer, The Record reported.
Sometimes it seems there is an inherent conflict of interest between those who work in the field of juvenile justice and their goal of reducing youth involvement with the system.
Providing a quality program that reduces recidivism, lessens the length of detention, or lowers the overall number of incarcerated youths can, in the long run, lead to the closing of facilities, shrinking allocations, and fewer jobs. Success can lead to obsolescence. There seems to be a built-in reverse incentive structure, where success never goes unpunished.
The sight of shackles stunned law professor Mary Berkheiser. She was watching juvenile justice court about 10 years ago, preparing for the launch of a clinic for third-year law students.
She sat in the audience. The marshal came in with the defendants from detention, a motley group of teenagers and preteens bound as tightly as Harry Houdini, in leg irons, belly chains and handcuffs.
“We’ve represented children who are 8 and 9 years old,” Berkheiser said. “The marshals have wrapped the belly chains around them two or three times. Sometimes they trip over the leg irons.”
In January 2012, California Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a historic reform of the state juvenile justice system, the Division of Juvenile Facilities (DJF), by giving counties full responsibility for managing their offender population.
This initiative, named Juvenile Justice Realignment, would have ended state intake of youth by 2013 and closed all facilities by 2015. The governor subsequently rescinded this proposal due to aggressive lobbying by state law enforcement associations.
TRENTON – A delegation from the state of Ohio including judges, court administrators, representative from the Ohio Department of Youth Services, and other stakeholders, are in New Jersey to attend a two-day working session designed to help Ohio replicate New Jersey’s success in juvenile detention reform.
Deborah Edwards, AAG, Counsel to the Attorney General, Department of Law and Public Safety; Gloria R. Hancock, Ed.D., Acting Executive Director, Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC); and Harry T. Cassidy, Assistant Director of Family Practice, New Jersey Judiciary, opened the event at the Trenton War Memorial and addressed the delegation, praising the State of New Jersey’s successes.
“You don’t care about the victims. All you care about are those kids.”
It was a comment I’ve heard in one form or another at book events, at juvenile justice talks I’ve given, or in response to pieces I’d written about our national policy of retribution towards troubled kids. I have to admit, though, this guy was a bit more, shall I say, challenging, as he stood up after my reading and made his comment.
Last month, members of CJCJ’s Wraparound team had the honor of presenting to juvenile justice leaders from select California counties at the Sierra Health Foundation’s Positive Youth Justice Initiative (PYJI) Speaker Series. Juvenile Justice Clinical Supervisor, Margaret Hitchcock and Wrap Rehabilitation Counselor, Randell Lewis, were joined by CJCJ’s Executive Director, Daniel Macallair, San Francisco Deputy Director of Juvenile Probation, Allison Magee, and Statewide expert on EPSDT and Wraparound funds, Joseph Harrington.
As one of California’s model counties, the San Francisco collaborative was invited by Sierra Health Foundation to discuss its community-based wraparound approach towards serving high-needs youth.
The CJNY's primary function is to be a support network for organizers and practitioners who are on the ground working with youth who are at risk or already involved in juvenile justice systems. We are also on:
The Community Justice Network for Youth (CJNY) is a program of the W. Haywood Burns Institute. This program is comprised of community-based programs, grassroots organizations, service-providing agencies, residential facilities and advocacy groups that focus their work on youth of color.
