DC Reforms Offer Some Kids New Beginning

By |

EDITOR’S NOTE: This month, our sister publication Youth Today features a  piece on D.C.'s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) by Kaukab Jhumra Smith. Youth Today, is dedicated to providing quality journalism on issues of interest to those involved in the youth services industry. This, of course, includes stories in the arena of juvenile justice such as Kaukab's story. But this month’s issue also includes stories on what youth-oriented organizations should do to prepare for natural disasters, how to head off abusive relationships between teens, book reviews, opinion pieces, an explainer on the art of statistics and a photo spread on the impact of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy on the youth-oriented organizations and young people. Youth Today prints six time a year.

Georgia Juvenile Justice Reform Bill Clears Committee

By |

A major reformation of Georgia’s juvenile justice system took a significant step toward passage in the state’s General Assembly Tuesday after it was voted out of the House Judiciary Committee. As JJIE reported earlier this month, the 244-page House Bill 242 grew out of a recommendation report from the Georgia Criminal Justice Reform Council and a years-long effort to update the state’s juvenile code. Much of the bill is modeled on reforms in other states such as Texas and Ohio. “The way we’re doing things now is not good for the children, so we’re altering those programs,” the bill’s sponsor and chairman of the committee, state Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday. The bill includes reforms meant to address high recidivism rates and ease overcrowding in detention centers by placing a greater emphasis on community-based alternatives.

Back Home in South Carolina, Cornell Law Professors Fight Legal Battle for Juvenile Lifers

By |

NEW YORK -- Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last June in the Miller v. Alabama case, John Blume, a professor at Cornell Law School, started worrying about his home state of South Carolina. Blume knew the Miller decision -- which ruled that mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment -- would create a great need for legal work in South Carolina. The legal limbo created by the Miller decision is not unique to South Carolina, however. Advocates for juvenile sentencing reform estimate there are 2,500 prisoners in nearly 30 states across the country who are serving life sentences without parole, including some 2,100 who were given mandatory sentences. In fact, other states across the country contending with the same confusion have more inmates than the 36 Blume and his team found in need of new remedies to meet the standards of the Miller decision.

Truancy Needs Early and Innovative Intervention

By |

Skipping school – perhaps that makes you think of adventures with high school friends just to test your independence. Four of my high school pals skipped school one beautiful spring day and drove to a nearby mall. A DJ for a local radio station was in the midst of a live remote when he interviewed my friends about a new rock and roll group. Unfortunately, my buddies did not consider that the radio might be playing in the principal’s office. Unlike Ferris Bueller, my friends were caught in the act.

Agreement Between Denver Schools and Police Alter Role of Officers, Called Historic, Significant

By |

On Tuesday, representatives from the Denver police department and public school system signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) significantly altering the roles of police officers in local schools. The new contract redefines student offenses, separating behaviors suited for in-school discipline from behaviors requiring police actions. The new model also urges de-escalation of conflicts on campus, as well as a greater focus on restorative justice policies. A teleconference featuring representatives from The Advancement Project and Padres and Jovenes Unidos was held the morning of the agreement’s signing. “Denver Public Schools and the Denver Police Department have moved into a new phase,” Judith Browne Dianis, The Advancement Project co-director, said.

Fledgling NJ Program Paves a Path from Corrections to College

By |

EDITOR’S NOTE: This month, our sister publication Youth Today features a  piece on prison-to-college initiatives by Jamaal Abdul-Alim, a Washington D.C.-based freelance writer. Youth Today, is dedicated to providing quality journalism on issues of interest to those involved in the youth services industry. This, of course, includes stories in the arena of juvenile justice such as Jamaal’s excellent story well as another juvenile justice-related piece on reforms taking place in the District of Columbia written by our correspondent there Kaukab Jhumra Smith. But this month’s issue also includes stories on what youth-oriented organizations should do to prepare for natural disasters, how to head off abusive relationships between teens, book reviews, opinion pieces, an explainer on the art of statistics and a photo spread on the impact of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy on the youth-oriented organizations and young people. Youth Today prints six time a year.

Study Asks, Which Onset Behaviors Best Predict Juvenile Delinquency?

By |

A new study in the Journal of Criminal Justice  examined the relationship between onset juvenile antisocial behavior and career delinquency, with researchers citing arrests and other police contacts as the most likely indicators of future criminality for adolescents. Researchers analyzed 252 young people -- 152 boys and 100 girls -- in juvenile placement in Pennsylvania. Measuring three types of “antisocial onsets” -- onset of law violations and rule-breaking, onset of arrest or other police contacts and onset of referral to juvenile courts -- researchers conducted various “head-to-head” tests to determine which type of onset behavior was most consistently associated with long-term delinquency. Using self-reports, researchers collected onset behavior data, additionally assessing young people for psychopathy with the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) instrument. Among the subjects, researchers indicated that 130 young people -- a little more than half the entire population studied -- reported diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or conduct disorder (CD).

A Smart Kid Derailed by the System

By |

The first job I landed after my release from prison was for a company that specialized in solar panels and high-efficiency heating and air equipment. It was a relatively small start up, lead by a husband and wife team who were interested not only in entrepreneurship but also in providing work to people who needed a little help. Several of us had criminal records. Some of the guys didn’t have stable housing or transportation. All of us were in one way or another outside of the mainstream of job applicants, and this in a time when the economy was headed downward.