Blog: Juvenile Court

Working in the juvenile justice system, child welfare, or adolescent subsance abuse treatment can mean that you're exposed to all kinds of trauma. Every day, you might hear stories from clients of abuse, mistreatment, deprivation, and violence. That's what's known as "secondary traumatic stress." 
That stress is made worse when you have to decide whether clients you serve will be safe at home -- or if they're likely to hurt others. That's a lot to carry, even if nothing ever goes wrong.
The symptoms of secondary traumatic stress "are often indistinguishable from those found in individuals as a response to a traumatic event they experienced directly," according to Julie Collins, in her article, "Addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress: emerging approaches in child welfare," which appeared in the Mar/April 2009 issue of Children's Voice from the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA). (Hat tip to Paul Savery.)
Just what are the symptoms? They include "fatigue or illness, cynicism, irritability, reduced productivity, feelings of hopelessness, anger, despair, sadness, feelings of re-experiencing the event, nightmares, anxiety, avoidance of people and activities, or persistent anger and sadness."

A few weeks ago, I announced here that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) had completed its first-ever "Census of Juveniles on Probation" (CJP). Since the report's not done, however, I didn't have any data to share.
The report still isn't done, but it turns out that some preliminary data from the juvenile probation census is available online from George Mason University, where the work is being done.
Curious about the survey? You download the 2009 survey sent to juvenile probation offices in PDF format here.  Next, you can review answers to some "frequently-asked questions," such as number of youth on probation by state, or the ratio of youth on formal probation to those on informal probation. 
In addition, you can also view graphs for 18 pre-set reports based on the juvenile probation data, like the one pictured here for drug offenses. You can see nationwide snapshots of juvenile probationers broken down by age, race/ethnicity, gender and offense category, and many more. Just bear in mind that the data isn't final and may change.  (Hat tip to Lore Joplin.)

Our nation has long been a leader in economic and military might, but we have forgotten about our children, too many of whom continue to languish in adult prisons. We are behind in our efforts to decrease our incarcerated population, especially our incarcerated youth. The U.S. has the highest reported incarceration rate of any nation in the world. On any given day, more than 7,500 youth are locked up in adult jails and prisons even though the vast majority of youth prosecuted in adult court are charged with non-violent offenses.
In the 1990’s most states passed laws that made it easier to try, sentence, and incarcerate youth in the adult criminal system in response to growing fears of a new generation of so-called adolescent “superpredators.” Even though youth crime rates are the lowest they have been in two decades, an estimated 200,000 youth continue to be prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system every year. Research shows that youth incarcerated in adult jails and prisons face an increased risk of being physically, mentally, and sexually abused. Prosecuting kids as adults also increases the likelihood that they will reoffend, and youth who are transferred to the adult criminal system are approximately 34% more likely than youth retained in the juvenile court system to be re-arrested.

You know that Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) is one of the most troubling and persistent problems with the juvenile justice system today. Now's your chance to pool your knowledge and learn from others working on the problem.
On October 23-25, 2010, the Coalition for Juvenile Justice is hosting its National DMC Conference, “Fundamental Fairness: Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice,” in Jersey City, New Jersey. The conference will be preceded by a one-day training on October 22, with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), State Relations and Assistance Division (SRAD).

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.

From the press release: the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) invites qualified individuals to apply under its fiscal year (FY) 2010 Fellowship Program on Tribal Juvenile Justice.
The fellowship represents an opportunity for professionals, practitioners, researchers, or trainers with expertise in tribal youth justice to assist OJJDP in strengthening its partnership with federally-recognized tribes to enhance juvenile justice and serve tribal youth and their families.
The application deadline is July 19, 2010.

I don't get to talk to families on their best days.  Rather, I mostly talk to people when they are in the midst of crisis - a crisis having arisen because their child has been arrested or is somewhere on the short road to being tried, sentenced, or incarcerated as an adult even though they are still a child.  I feel inadequate and find myself lacking answers. I feel scared for them knowing that they are powerless and the full range of consequences of these practices will not reach them until years down the road.  Truly, it is the families and the children that will carry years of devastating burdens far longer than I.  

As an organizer, I want to see the reform that will end these harmful practices, but as a family organizer, I want to provide answers to folks who have a right to understand every aspect of what is happening to their children in these circumstances.  I keep wondering whose job it is to give families the information they need during this difficult time.

Many families seek legal advice from the attorneys that represent their children.  Providing this advice, however, can be difficult for the attorneys because they represent the child, not the family.  While families can and should take an active role in the defense of their child and communicate relevant information to the attorney, such as if the child has been in trouble before or was a good student, this still ultimately means that the care and concern of the child falls back to the family.  Yet, the family often lacks the information necessary to help make decisions in the best interest of their child.  How are families to make decisions without adequate information?  

The National Reentry Resource Center recently sent out the following announcement for not one but two grant opportunities through the Second Chance Act that apply to juveniles.

Positive Youth Justice Report

According to a new report that my organization, the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ), just published, the future for youth involved with the justice system could be dramatically improved by applying the principles of positive youth development (PYD) practice to the juvenile justice system and its services.
The report -- Positive Youth Justice: Framing Justice Interventions Using the Concepts of Positive Youth Development, written by Jeffrey A. Butts, Gordon Bazemore and Aundra Saa Meroe -- explores the tremendous potential of helping court-involved youth develop their pro-social strengths and attributes, and increase their abilities to contribute to healthy, safe family and community life.