UPDATE: Idaho Juvenile Facility First to be Certified PREA Compliant

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UPDATE: March 11, 2014
The Southwest Idaho Juvenile Detention Center (SIJDC) in Caldwell, Idaho became the first detention facility of any sort to be certified as compliant with the standards of the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). The facility houses 90 youth. PREA was enacted by Congress to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.”

The Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Institute for Justice were mandated to conduct research on the issue and the Bureau of Justice Assistance along with the National Institute of Corrections were tasked with supporting efforts in the state, juvenile, community and jail systems.

The latest data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows 70,792 juveniles in detention as of 2010. According to the National Institute for Justice there is no consensus among researchers about the incidence of sexual assault in U.S. facilities. The most recent BJS report, from 2012, indicated that nearly 10 percent of adjudicated juveniles reported being a victim to sexual assault.

The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission was charged with creating standards to implement the law.

John Lash

OP-ED: We Can’t Improve the US by Fishing for Red Herrings

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It is a fact that it is not easy being black or Latino in the United States. More specifically, it’s not safe, particularly for boys and young men. As a nation we seem reluctant to fully confront this reality, or to address its causes and long history. In some quarters there is also an obstinate unwillingness to acknowledge anything beyond personal responsibility or to extend assistance to people based on social and historical realities. In this world view those having a tough time — the poor, minorities, the unemployed, drug users, juvenile delinquents and others — have only themselves to blame for their situation.

In Washington State, Removing the Mistakes Kids Make From the Public Record

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The state of Washington is one of eight that allows open access to juvenile arrest records. What this means is anybody interested in performing a thorough background check — including landlords, employers, reporters, private investigators or, some worry, less savory people, such as pimps or abusive partners — can walk down to the courthouse and see whether someone ran afoul of the law as a kid.

Meanwhile, Washington’s Administrative Office of the Courts, which oversees the state’s court system, disseminates data files that include juvenile records. These, in turn, are sold to private consumer reporting companies.

But, the Washington state Legislature is considering a bill to change all of that.

OP-ED: You can’t Talk About Justice Without Talking About Race

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Attempts at reducing disproportionate minority contact (DMC) and disparate treatment of racial and ethnic youth in the justice systems of our country have not made much progress. Advocates, foundations, courts and stakeholders have exercised words and approaches, but the numbers don’t lie. According to the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange’s recent analysis of federal data from 1990 and 2010, minority youth were greatly over-represented at every point of the system. The comparison of that 20-year span shows little to no improvement of DMC in arrests, adjudications, detentions and transfers to adult court. Perhaps part of the problem is that we continue focusing on effects instead of causes.

OP-ED: We Can Do More to Ensure Equitable Treatment of LGBTQ Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

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We need to do a much better job ensuring that teens who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ) are treated equitably by the juvenile justice system. A report from the Equity Project, tells us that LGBTQ youth are more likely than their heterosexual peers to be placed in a juvenile detention facility. Additionally, Dr. Angela Irvine has found that LGBTQ youth are detained at nearly double the rate of heterosexual teens for status offenses, like skipping school and running away from home. Status offenses are behaviors that constitute a crime merely because the person who engaged in them is not an adult.

Advocates believe this disparity in detention rates is due in part to implicit bias among some police and judicial officers who may feel that these teens would not be safe in the community. Once behind bars, however, they are often anything but safe.