In Kentucky, Juvenile Offenders’ Names Could be Shared After Adjudication

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On Monday, members of the Kentucky House passed a bill that would allow victims in juvenile court trials to discuss a case once a verdict is rendered, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. House Bill 115 swept through the House with unanimous approval earlier this week, garnering a 93-0 vote in Kentucky’s lower legislative body. The bill stems from a 2011 sexual assault case involving Savannah Dietrich, then 16 years old, who was attacked by two underage football players at a Louisville, Ky., party. The two assailants struck a plea deal, resulting in 50 hours of community service and counseling. Dietrich, upset with what she considered lenient sentencing, tweeted the names of her attackers, violating a state gag order which prevented her from discussing details of the case to the public.

Are We Too Quick to Claim Credit for Falling Juvenile Incarceration Rates?

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The youth justice field is in a celebratory mood. Last month, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Justice Policy Institute released major reports on the declining rate of juvenile incarceration in the United States. On a per capita basis, juvenile confinement is down more than 40 percent compared with the mid-1990s. In some states, the numbers are even more striking, with declines of 66 percent in Tennessee, 65 percent in Connecticut, and 56 percent in Louisiana. Why is this happening?

We are the System

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Since the deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School late last year, there has been an abundance of suggested policy changes to keep children safe. They include armed guards in every school building, placing police stations in schools, allowing teachers to carry guns and creating registries of kids adjudicated as delinquents. Some advocating these measures must believe that simple steps done in big ways will answer our fears. Creating policy and legislation by anecdote is easy but usually ineffective. Long-lasting and successful policy is rooted in examination of past practices, data analysis and assessment of pilot programs.

Instead of embracing every “solution” with mass appeal, we must confront the circumstances of schoolhouse shootings in recent years:  few of the changes proposed would have prevented these tragedies. If we cannot rely on big, simple changes to eradicate all risk of harm, what can we do? First, our country needs better screening and mental health treatment for those young people in, or at risk of entering, the juvenile justice system. Adequate mental health practices could provide early identification of young people most at risk for committing terrible crimes. Delivering support to them early would make it more likely they will be successful in school and in life and far less likely they will deteriorate into the evil of mass murder.

Controversy Over Cops in Schools Flares Anew

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Photo by Frans Schouwenberg
From the Center for Public Integrity

The Obama administration wants stiffer gun control, and $150 million to help schools hire up to 1,000 more on-campus police or counselors, or purchase security technology. State legislators are considering shifting millions of dollars around to help schools hire more police. Some locals aren’t waiting: The 5,500-resident town of Jordan, Minn., has moved its entire eight-officer police force into schools. “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun,” National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said after a young man shot his way into his former grammar school on Dec. 14 in Newtown, Conn., and killed 20 first-graders and six educators.

In a No-win Position: Teens Caught up in the System Share their Stories

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“They knew I had some problems, but they never asked me what was wrong or why I kept running [away] before they took my baby away … they put me in a situation where I couldn’t win,” Teneshia shared, a distant look in her eyes, as if she were looking back at her past. In the VOX meeting room filled with teens and social workers, the teen mom, gave birth to her first child at age 14, detailed caring for her children and drug-addicted mother, all while trying to avoid her sexually abusive male family members. “At home, I was the mom and paid every bill," she explained. She labeled herself as a “serious runaway,” because she ran away from home so often. As Tenesia told her story her voice cracked, and unable to continue, she burst into tears and left the room, trailed closely by her caseworker.

Nebraska’s ‘Culture of Incarceration’ Must be Addressed, Say State Lawmakers

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Photo by Nebraska Department of Correctional Services
Several Nebraska state lawmakers are promising reform measures to cut down its youth detention numbers following the release of a prominentAnnie E. Casey Foundation report indicating Nebraska had the nation’s third-highest rate of juvenile incarceration in 2010. According to the KIDS Count data snapshot released last week, Nebraska was one of only six states in the nation to experience an increase in juvenile incarceration rates from 1997 to 2010, growing by eight percent over the 13-year study period. State Sen. Brad Ashford (I-Omaha), inan Associated Press report, said new legislation was vital in addressing the state’s “culture of incarceration.”

“I do not feel we can wait anymore for a real solution to our issues involving juvenile justice,” he told the AP. “This effort is essential.”

A “non-partisan” state senator representing Lincoln, Amanda McGill, is proposing a pilot program that would provide training and assistance to primary care doctors within the state to catch potential behavioral health issues early. Another of her proposals would create a “state fellowship program,” which is designed to draw more behavioral experts to Nebraska.

New Jersey Credits JDAI for Statewide 50 Percent Decrease of Detention Population

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Photo credit: Ryan Schill
New Jersey’s juvenile detention population dropped by more than 50 percent from 1997 to 2010, according to data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s latest KIDS COUNT data snapshot, released last week. The state Office of the Attorney General(OAG) cited the state’s 16-county implementation of the AECF’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) as a major catalyst for the state’s drastic drop in juvenile detention numbers, the sixth-largest overall state decrease recorded by the Casey Foundation over the nearly decade and a half evaluation period. “JDAI continues to be a great story in New Jersey,” Judge Glenn A. Grant, current acting administrative director of the courts, said in an OAG news release. “The collaboration among government agencies, including the Juvenile Justice Commission and county and social service agencies, along with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is clearly bringing benefits to our youth and our communities at large.”

The news releases states New Jersey has been named by the AEFC the “model” for states wishing to implement JDAI programs. At least eight states, including Massachusetts and Nevada, have sent delegates to New Jersey seeking guidance on how to install the JDAI in their own states. Numerous detention alternative programs have been established in New Jersey via the JDAI.

Racial Disparities Decline in Female Arrests

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Last week, The Sentencing Project Executive Director Marc Mauer released findings from a new policy report evaluating female incarceration trends. “We’ve been looking at race and incarceration for well over two decades,” he said. “The story in general has been a discouraging one. We’ve seen high--almost shockingly high--rates of incarceration for African-American men in particular, but increasingly for women of color.”

In the new Sentencing Project analysis, however, Mauer said there is currently a “shift” in the racial dynamics of incarceration, specifically regarding females in United States prisons. According to the new report, the rate of incarceration for African-American women declined by more than 30 percent over the last decade, while rates of incarceration for Caucasian and Hispanic females rose by 47 percent and 43 percent, respectively.