Youth PROMISE Act Reintroduced in Washington

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Photo courtesy of Congressman Bobby Scott
On Thursday, Congressman Robert Scott (D-Va.) and Congressman Walter Jones (R-N.C.) reintroduced the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support and Education (Youth PROMISE) Act. First proposed in 2009, the Act would alter elements of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 and provide funding and other resources for communities to build and implement evidence-based intervention and prevention strategies to curb youth violence, drug use and gang activity. In neighborhoods with the highest rates of youth crime, the Act would establish special councils consisting of local law enforcement, school and court services representatives, who would develop programs to “redirect” young people who are involved, or may become involved, in the juvenile justice system. Councils established by the Act would also include healthcare providers, social services workers and input from other public and private organizations, such as churches and local businesses. More than 200 organizations -- among them, the Children’s Defense Fund, the National Juvenile Justice Network and the American Bar Association -- have demonstrated support for the Youth PROMISE Act.

Listenbee Takes Over as Federal Head of Juvenile Justice

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Defense attorney Robert Listenbee Jr., who led the juvenile defense unit at the Defender Association of Philadelphia since 1997, took the oath of office today to become the first permanent administrator of the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in more than four years. The OJJDP updated its website Monday morning to announce Listenbee’s first day of work, which comes seven weeks after President Barack Obama announced hisintent to nominate him to the post and more than four years since the president first took office. J. Robert Flores, the last permanent administrator, resigned his position in 2008 under then-President George W. Bush. In January 2009, Bush appointed Jeff Slowikowski as acting administrator, a position he held for three years. In January 2012, Slowikowski was replaced by Melodee Hanes.

A Partnership for Sensible Juvenile Justice Reform in California

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Brian Goldstein
California thrives because of a rich diversity of cultures and people. The state’s 58 counties are the fabric of this greater socioeconomic patchwork. Given this diversity, each county faces both unique challenges and varied resources. To be effective, state policymakers must craft policy tailored to these nuances. This proves especially true for the state’s juvenile justice system, where California’s counties serve increasingly as models of innovation.

Boys Growing Up to be Boys: Mandatory Minimums and Teens in Adult Prisons

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For teens sentenced as adults under Georgia’s SB 400, a paucity of resources create reentry challenges (and increased likelihood of recidivism) upon release

ATLANTA––In the best of situations, teen boys struggle with growing into good men. The challenge becomes enormous for Georgia teens convicted in adult court of certain violent crimes—the so-called Seven Deadly Sins—and subsequently locked away in adult prisons. In 1994, responding to rising juvenile crime rates and fears of a generation of teen “super-predators,” Georgia passed legislation requiring any kid age 13 to 17 accused of committing one of seven serious, violent crimes be transferred out of the juvenile system to face an adult court. Conviction meant a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years with no parole. With few positive role models and few opportunities for education while inside the prison walls, many former inmates convicted under the law say they are ill-prepared for life on the outside—a life requiring Social Security numbers, credit scores, balanced checkbooks and an entirely different set of interpersonal skills than those they’d learned in prison.

In Georgia, Youth and Adult Lock-ups Have Equal Teen Felony Recidivism Rates

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ATLANTA – Georgia legislators split the difference when they toughened juvenile justice laws in 1994. They stiffened sentences for the most violent crimes, sending some teens to adult prisons. But lawmakers also gave courts discretion to keep some of the serious offenders in the state’s juvenile facilities. Two decades later, though, a new data analysis shows Georgia's juvenile system has turned out just as high a percentage of repeat offenders as its adult prisons. Whether teens spent time in youth detention centers or adult lock-ups for targeted violent crimes, the analysis found, their felony recidivism rates have been virtually identical.

JJIE Publisher Receives $100,000 Gift from The Harnisch Family Philanthropies

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The Center for Sustainable Journalism (CSJ) at Kennesaw State University, publisher of the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange and Youth Today, last week announced it received a $100,000 gift from The Harnisch Family Philanthropies to advance the center’s mission of covering youth issues. Leonard Witt, executive director of the center, said the longtime support from Ruth Ann Harnisch, president of the Harnisch Foundation, and her husband William Harnisch, president and CEO of Peconic Partners, have been instrumental in the center’s growth over the years. “We wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for Ruth Ann Harnisch and her vision of what we could be,” Witt said. The grant, he continued, will allow the center to continue to provide a national forum for youth justice issues and publish “more high quality, ethically sound journalism.”
“The Center for Sustainable Journalism team has rapidly become the nation’s leading source of news and opinion about children who need help and are somewhere in the system,” Ruth Ann Harnisch said upon announcing the gift. “The center produces the most important journalism available for people who work with youth in education, criminal justice and social services, as well as for concerned parents and citizens.”
Harnisch continued: “This work is growing so fast that it requires more investment.

Stop the Madness

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Let me start with a caveat. I don’t think kids should use drugs of any kind, including alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. The high school kids I met last year while teaching conflict resolution often made references to smoking pot, and several times they appeared to be high. The consequences of marijuana use, especially for young people, are heavily debated. Searching for good data about the health effects of cannabis is made difficult by groups who advocate for one position or the other.