States Consider Armed Police in Schools

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When news about the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School hit last December, New Jersey police chief Vincent Caruso’s mind started turning. As the head of the police department and a member of the School Board in Lodi, a town of about 25,000 in Bergen County, Caruso knew he had to take an active role in updating the town’s school safety procedures. Armed school resource officers already patrolled Lodi’s middle and high schools, but Caruso, with images of Newtown fresh in his mind, was concerned about the town’s five elementary schools. “That was the first time where it actually hit home at an elementary school,” Caruso, who has three young children in Lodi’s elementary schools, said. “When you start killing kindergarteners and first graders, all bets are off.”

Caruso developed a plan to put retired police officers armed with guns in Lodi’s elementary schools.

Florida Juvenile Murderers May Face 50-year Minimum Sentences

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This week, Florida’s state Senate Criminal Justice Committee approved a bill that could establish new minimum and maximum juvenile sentencing standards within the state. Under Senate Bill 1350 (SB 1350), juvenile offenders convicted of murder may be given a minimum sentence of 50 years behind bars, while young people convicted of non-murder offenses would have maximum sentences of 50 years. The bill, approved by a 4-2 vote, also leaves room for judges to give life sentences for juvenile offenders charged with murder, pending outcomes from a review that takes into consideration several factors, including the nature of the offense and the offender’s mental competence. Upon rejecting a life sentence, SB 1350 would require state judges to impose the 50-year minimum sentence. According to The Ledger.com, the proposal has the backing of both the Florida Sheriffs Association and state prosecutors.

John Lash

Prisons are no Place for Profit

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The Times Tribune published an article Tuesday outlining the final report of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille covering changes in how the state’s juvenile and appellate courts operate. The changes were prompted by the “Kids for Cash” scandal in Luzerne County. In case you don’t remember, the case involved two judges, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan, in the juvenile court who were taking bribes to send kids to a privately operated youth detention center. Their plot was hatched in 2000 and included rigged deals for contracts, overcharging by private prisons, fraud, bribery, kids sent to facilities in droves as a way to raise revenue, and many other crimes, and came to light over several years, starting in 2007. Both judges are now in federal prison serving lengthy sentences.

First Lady Rallies for Solutions to Crime During Chicago Visit

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This story was produced by The Chicago Bureau

(UPDATE: Thursday marked a new development in the effort to provide the United States with comprehensive gun control reformwhen the Senate voted 68-31 to debate on President Barack Obama’s proposed measures to heighten gun control and reduce gun violence.)

First Lady Michelle Obama visited her hometown of Chicago Wednesday and made an emotional plea for  providing the city’s youth with opportunities in order to curb violence in their neighborhoods. (Watch the video here.)

At the Wednesday luncheon of business executives and community leaders held at The Hilton Chicago, she stated while all the city’s youth had enormous amounts of potential, a home address and the distance of a few blocks could determine the life chances and opportunities offered to children, thus changing their futures. Besides exposing business and community leaders to the issue of gun violence, the Wednesday luncheon also spotlighted Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new Chicago Public Safety Action Community Fund, a city initiative introduced in February that will allocate $50 million to providing more community resources to at-risk youth to steer them away from violence. The initiative has already raised $33 million. Michelle Obama’s remarks came two days after President Barack Obama traveled to the University of Hartford, where he urged Congress to pass legislation that would tackle the issue of gun violence in the U.S.

In January, issued nearly two dozen executive orders and presented proposals for consideration by Congress to reduce gun violence. Some of these proposals included expanding background checks for gun purchases, increasing mental health resources and creating a more effective ban on assault weapons.

Pittsburgh Juvenile Detention Center Facing State Probes

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Pennsylvania officials are investigating administrators at a Pittsburgh juvenile detention center amid charges of mismanagement and favoritism. Last month, two of Shuman Juvenile Detention Center’s highest ranking administrators were given one-week suspensions, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. William Simmons, director of the Allegheny County facility, was placed on unpaid suspension for two days last month, and county controller’s office records indicate he will serve an additional three-day leave without pay in April. Lynette Drawn-Williamson, the facility’s deputy director, was also suspended last month, serving a five-day leave in March. Both suspensions come on the heels of a county report highly critical of the management at Shuman.

President’s Budget Proposes Spending on Evidence Based Practices

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President Barack Obama introduced his 2014 budget proposal on Wednesday, highlighting new efforts to increase funding for education and juvenile justice. Although the president described his proposal as “not optimal,” but necessary for compromise, agencies such as Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice were quick to praise funding included for needed mental health services, prevention of gun violence and investments in early childhood education. The president’s budget calls for $3.77 trillion in spending and anticipates $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years.  HouseRepublicans and Senate Democrats already passed their 2014 budget resolutions, which Congress will move to reconcile with each other and the president’s proposal in the coming months. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), in a video statement, argued in favor of the House resolution, stating that the president’s budget doesn’t “come to balance.”
The president’s justice programs proposals focus on efforts to support evidence-based practices and to increase awareness of what works.

The Power of Poetry in Education

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For me the keepers of convicts shoulder their combines and keep watch,

It is I let out in the morning and barr’d at night. Not a youngster is taken for larceny but I go up too, and am tried and sentenced. —Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

April is National Poetry Month. This year, thousands of students incarcerated in juvenile detention and correctional centers around the country are participating in a nationwide poetry initiative, “Words Unlocked,” sponsored by the Center for Educational Excellence in Alternative Settings. We should support the study of poetry in all of our nation’s schools, especially those located behind bars.

Promoting LGBT Adolescents’ Health and Well-Being

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Health care providers and other professionals have many opportunities to support and encourage the healthy development of LGBT youth, who may be at greater risk for bullying and victimization, according to a new position paper. Although most LGBT youth are healthy and well-adjusted, lack of acceptance by others can cause them added stress and lead to risky behavior or mental health issues, according to a new statement by the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine issued this month in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The report calls on professionals in medicine, social work, law, nursing, public health and other fields, to better understand the needs of LGBT youth and how to care for them in different settings. The position paper further calls on professionals to advocate for policy changes to support youth at school, at home and in child welfare and juvenile justice settings. LGBT young people may be bullied or victimized more often than other adolescents, according to the position paper, which can lead to greater risk of depression or suicide. In one survey of LGBT students cited in the paper, 85 percent said they had been verbally harassed, 40 percent reported physical harassment and two thirds said they felt unsafe at school.