Blog: Juvenile Justice Reform

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth across America are facing a crisis in the juvenile justice system as a result of harmful discrimination in their homes, schools and communities. Recent studies demonstrate that continued harassment of LGBT youth in their schools place them at a higher risk for involvement with the system. LGBT youth are more likely to skip school to avoid victimization and in the process face truancy charges.
Additionally, other LGBT students end up in the system on assault or disorderly conduct charges after they try to defend themselves against bullying by their classmates. In other instances, LGBT youth are disproportionately targeted by school officials for punishment, often referring them to juvenile court for conduct that is more appropriately handled in school. These experiences unnecessarily prolong the involvement of LGBT youths in the juvenile justice system and often expose them to more restrictive dispositions. In an effort to reduce the number of LGBT youth in the juvenile justice system, more must be done to combat discrimination and harassment in schools.

[For a brief interview with the author on prosecutors and adolescent substance abuse in the juvenle justice system, watch the video below the section break. -Ed.]
Adolescent substance abuse is currently the biggest public health problem facing our country, according to a study released in June by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.1 The report explains that efforts in the past decade that curbed underage drinking and drug usage may be losing their effect; the authors caution: “we can no longer write off adolescent substance use as bad behavior, as a rite of passage or as kids just being kids. The science is too clear, the facts are too compelling, the consequences are too devastating and the costs are simply too high.”2
 
What the Research Says
Alarming news, yet not surprising to those of us working in the field of juvenile justice (JJ). A 2004 study found that nearly 80% of juvenile offenders between the ages of 10-17, in juvenile justice systems are under the influence of alcohol or other drugs while committing their crimes, test positive for drugs, are arrested for an alcohol or drug offense, admit having a substance use or addiction problem, or share some combination of these characteristics.3 Therefore, most juvenile court prosecutors are confronted with issues relating to substance use on a regular basis.

 

 
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) is alarmed to report that federal juvenile justice funding will once again be dramatically reduced if Congress adopts the FY 2012 funding proposal put forth by the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS).  [Click on chart above for larger image. Chart courtesy of Reclaiming Futures, based on data provided by CJJ. -Ed.]

 
Programs authorized under the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program (JABG) spur innovation and excellence in juvenile justice at the state and local levels and provide safeguards for children and youth involved with the justice system. Historically, appropriations for these programs have been modest, at an average of less than $225 million per fiscal year. 
 
For more than 35 years, states have leveraged these programs and proven in small and big ways that federal juvenile justice programs reduce juvenile offending, help youth transition safely to adulthood and save taxpayer money. Examples of these measurable results can be found in a Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) fact bulletin titled Safeguarding the Future: Strategic Investments to Secure the Safety of America’s Youth, Families and Communities.  
 
Yet, despite clear evidence that federal funding to states is effective at preventing and reducing delinquency, Congress continues to signal an abandonment of its commitment to community safety by making drastic cuts to federal juvenile justice programs. Since FY 2002, federal investments in programs to prevent and reduce delinquency have decreased by 50%.  The FY 2011 budget bill cut federal juvenile justice programs by an additional 17%; in real terms more than half of the states are suffering reductions as high as 32%. The FY 2012 House proposal would further reduce the JJDPA Title II progras by more than $20 million and would completely eliminate funding for the JJDPA Title V and the JABG programs. The effect would be an additional 50% to federal juvenile justice programs, and bring the total reduction over the last decade to 75%. See CJJ’s Historical Juvenile Justice Federal Funding Chart.

• Webinar on Disproportionate Minority Contact
  The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center will host the webinar, “Disproportionate Minority Contact: Issues and Trends at the National, State, and Local Level,” on August 3, 2011 at 2 p.m. (EDT). The webinar will describe the issues that state and local communities face when trying to reduce disproportionate minority contact.  
• Department of Justice: Licensed Growers, Dispensers of Medical Marijuana Could Be Prosecuted
  A new policy memo issued by Deputy Attorney General James Cole says state law is no protection for growers and dispensers of medical marijuana. However, the Justice Department stands by its 2009 directive against investigating patients and caregivers in compliance with state law.

During my 12 years on the bench, a few of my law enforcement friends have asked me why I take — in their perspective — a “soft” approach with kids coming before me.
“Judge, you don’t see them on the streets when we deal with them,” they say.  “You see them in court with a smile and looking good.”
The question of my apparent naive approach to kids is valid — from their perspective of course.
For example, I recall this one kid four years ago. He was 15 years old and his name was Kenny. He personified the kids my friends described — angry, disrespectful, and defiant.
Imagine dealing with many Kennys every day. It is frustrating for police. I understand their criticism of my decisions. They serve on the front-end of the criminal justice system. They place their lives on the line every day.
Take for instance the kid who runs from a stolen car, the police give chase, and upon catching up, he resists and has to be wrestled to the ground. They both get scrapes and maybe torn clothes. Despite his admission to fleeing from and resisting the officer, the kid complains of police brutality.
I used to be one of those officers on the ground. I assure you, there is no failsafe method of cuffing a resisting person without getting scrapes, maybe some cuts, bruises and torn clothing. In fact, when you hit the ground, it’s a free-for-all and the training goes out the door. You do whatever it will take to get home that evening to your family — even if it means scraping, cutting, bruising and tearing clothes. There is a saying among peace officers: “I'd rather be tried by 12 of my peers than carried by 6 of my friends.”
[Click "Read More" to see the rest of Kenny's story ...]

Nathan Bootz (shown at right), superintendent of Ithaca Public Schools in Michigan, has written a public letter to Governor Rick Snyder, requesting that his school be classified as a prison. 
Why? Check out his provocative letter (reprinted with his permission):

Dear Governor Snyder,
In these tough economic times, schools are hurting. And yes, everyone in Michigan is hurting right now financially, but why aren’t we protecting schools? Schools are the one place on Earth that people look to to “fix” what is wrong with society by educating our youth and preparing them to take on the issues that society has created.
One solution I believe we must do is take a look at our corrections system in Michigan. We rank nationally at the top in the number of people we incarcerate. We also spend the most money per prisoner annually than any other state in the union. Now, I like to be at the top of lists, but this is one ranking that I don’t believe Michigan wants to be on top of.
Consider the life of a Michigan prisoner. They get three square meals a day. Access to free health care. Internet. Cable television. Access to a library. A weight room. Computer lab. They can earn a degree. A roof over their heads. Clothing. Everything we just listed we DO NOT provide to our school children.
This is why I’m proposing to make my school a prison. The State of Michigan spends annually somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 per prisoner, yet we are struggling to provide schools with $7,000 per student. I guess we need to treat our students like they are prisoners, with equal funding. Please give my students three meals a day. Please give my children access to free health care. Please provide my school district Internet access and computers. Please put books in my library. Please give my students a weight room so we can be big and strong. We provide all of these things to prisoners because they have constitutional rights. What about the rights of youth, our future?!
Please provide for my students in my school district the same way we provide for a prisoner. It’s the least we can do to prepare our students for the future...by giving our schools the resources necessary to keep our students OUT of prison.
Respectfully submitted,
Nathan Bootz
Superintendent
Ithaca Public Schools

 
What I hope Governor Snyder will take away from this is not the false idea that prisoners have a soft life, or that the resources that go to them should be taken away and given to school children; instead, I hope he is able to find ways to act on the principle that providing adequate investments in education and prevention go a long way toward preventing delinquency and crime. 
(Hat tip: sparkaction.org.)

The Senate passed by a 79-20 margin [on June 29] the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011, which would remove the Senate confirmation requirement for hundreds of executive branch positions, including two of the top federal jobs related to child welfare and juvenile justice.
S. 679 was never referred out of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The bill was introduced in late March by a bipartisan group of senators and blessed with the support of both Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Chief among the youth-related positions affected by the bill are Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), an agency within the Office of Justice Programs at the Department of Justice, and Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), which is part of the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services.

On June 9th, I got to watch as the members of the Center for Court Innovation’s Youth Justice Board – all high school students -- presented their final report, titled Looking Forward: Youth Perspectives on Reducing Juvenile Crime in Brownsville and Beyond, recommending strategies for reducing youth crime in Brownsville, Brooklyn, to an audience that included Brownsville community leaders and residents, juvenile justice system stakeholders, and friends and family.
The Youth Justice Board is an afterschool program that brings together high school-aged youth from across New York City interested in working on a policy issue that affects them and their peers.
 
Members of the Board work in two-year cycles, spending their first year building relationships with organizations and individuals working on similar topics while gathering information for their  recommendations. In the second year, these relationships can become true partnerships, allowing the Board to create and implement projects that, with the support of the partnering agency, will be that much more effective.
 
Last program cycle, for example, the Board studied the juvenile justice system in New York City. During the first year, one of the Board’s recommendations was that youth and their families needed more information about how the juvenile justice system works.

Karen Pittman (left), President and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment, has a saying about working with teens that's worth repeating: "Problem-free is not fully prepared."
How does that apply to teens in the alcohol and drug treatment, or kids in the juvenile justice system?
Focusing just on helping teens get sober or crime-free isn't enough. Like other teens, they have developmental needs they need to meet to be successful. They need support and opportunities to grow their social skills, emotional skills, navigational skills ... competencies that are key to growing up and becoming contributing adults. 
How do young people build those skills? They need to be connected with caring adults, in places where they can practice those skills with appropriate feedback.
The trouble is, as Ms. Pittman explained in a brief video interview (see below) that we did with her at the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute in May, most efforts to help kids succeed are focused primarily on educational and vocational skills. These are critical, but the trick is to find the caring adults and the places where teens can build and practice those "soft" skills. 
Check out what she has to say: