Lack of Expertise, Inadequate Funding Plaguing Mental Health Delivery to Nation’s Juvenile Justice System
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Are young people in the juvenile justice system with mental health disorders being properly diagnosed and treated?
Seven Officers at Georgia RYDC Removed after “Egregious Policy Violations”
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Seven employees at the DeKalb County Regional Youth Detention Center have been removed, following findings from a three-week investigation.
Just How Innovative are Criminal Justice Systems in the United States?
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How willing are agency leaders to adopt new ideas and make changes to criminal justice policies and programming? A recently released report from the Center for Court Innovation attempts to answer the question. The report, “Innovation in the Criminal Justice System: A National Survey of Criminal Justice Leaders,” is the first of its kind. Supported by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, more than 600 agency heads across the country were surveyed for the study, including police chiefs, juvenile justice officials and state court administrators across the nation. Respondents cumulatively scored a 2.89 on a four-point scale that measured systemic innovation in terms of data sharing and evidence-driven practices.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Ruling Keeps Kids Out of Adult Prisons
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Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled last month that young people may no longer be held in adult prisons while awaiting juvenile court hearings. The high court ruling redefines “detention facilities” to expressly exclude state- or county-level jails or prisons, while similarly altering the state’s definition of “juvenile” to include youths who have been placed in detention for probation violations. Under Pennsylvania law, all minors ages 10 to 17 must have their cases heard in juvenile court. In some instances, youth as old as 21 may remain under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. “Every once in a while a judge would find someone who is under juvenile court jurisdiction, but over age 18, and want to teach them a lesson and put them in county jail,” Robert Schwartz of Philadelphia’s Juvenile Law Center told The Scranton Times-Tribune.
Summer Jobs May Reduce Teen Violence, Study Says
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A recent study found that low-income Boston teens with summer jobs were less likely to engage in violence than teens without jobs.
Kansas Merges Juvenile System and Adult Correctional System
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The consolidation, which is strictly administrative, is the result of an executive order proposed by Gov. Sam Brownback.
Indiana High Court Increases Difficulty of Placing Minors on Sex Offender Registries
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Juvenile offenders cannot be placed on state registries unless a trial court finds, “by clear and convincing evidence,” that a minor is likely to reoffend.
Iowa Awarded Federal Grant to Improve Juvenile Justice Programming
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The funding is intended to provide three of the state’s judicial districts with resources to evaluate and improve youth services and juvenile programs.
All Louisiana Juvenile Detention Facilities Meet Updated State Standards
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Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services (DFCS) announced Monday it had completed inspecting and licensing the state’s 15 juvenile detention facilities.
Judge Strikes Down Louisiana Law Allowing Kids to Own Guns
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A Louisiana juvenile court judge rankled the state’s pro-gun activists last week when she struck down portions of a state law allowing minors to carry firearms.