Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/category/ideas-and-opinions/page/48/)
Throughout the last year I’ve been back and forth between being free and being locked up. I know you weren’t there when I was a child, but you made an effort to be there in my later years.
You proved to me that you’re a good man and changed, now it’s my turn to prove to you that I’m not another juvenile statistic and I can change.
What does it mean to be “tough on crime”?
As we moved away from the “crimequake” of the ’90s and watched the juvenile crime rate fall, the fear that once pushed us off the slippery slope and into a lock ’em up frenzy was replaced by evidence-informed policymaking that emphasizes community-based solutions.
While it might not be productive to try to rank youth employment stakeholders by their importance, there’s no doubt that funders are essential, if not critical, to the success of any youth employment venture. But working effectively with them, unlike some other stakeholders, is a skill area that leaves little room for error.
As America grapples with its overreliance on incarceration and advocates call for the end of mass incarceration, we must also focus on reducing all criminal justice involvement, including probation.
Today, June 6,, 2017, marks the two-year anniversary of the devastating loss of Kalief Browder. Kalief was a 22-year-old whose traumatic and deeply unjust contact with the adult criminal justice system when he was only 16 changed the course of his life forever.
Some of the most gifted educators in the field are found inside. The constraints of detention, maintaining safety and security, educating explosive learners and finding probation staff who care about the kids summon a forbearing heart, a steadfast spirit and a giant toolbox of educational strategies. Our students commonly come to us with high hopes, with substandard school histories and with bruised regard; our duty is to deliver.
It's one thing to talk about and describe trends in juvenile justice, but it’s an entirely different creature when trying to explain why they occur.
As with almost every social undertaking, youth employment involves numerous stakeholders, each of which has its own perspective, goals, issues and vested interests.
I openly admit that transitioning from avoiding the trauma issue to becoming a trauma-informed and responsive organization wasn’t easy, but the value of that transformation is facilitating better outcomes for the children we serve. If we as service providers don’t take the trauma issue straight on, we are doing the children who are counting on us for help a disservice.
Most juvenile detention facilities and out-of-home placements are still not conducive to treatment of kids with trauma, and those with mental and behavioral health needs.
My friend Judge Joan Byer, retired from the Jefferson County, Kentucky juvenile bench, described the overarching goal this way: “We need to move closer toward a juvenile justice system that stops punishing kids who have had punishing lives.”