Webinar Examines Sexual Exploitation of Girls by Gangs

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CHICAGO-- Although gangs are a chronic problem in many urban and suburban areas of the nation, this city included, certain aspects of gang life don’t receive the attention – and therefore the resources – necessary to combat them. In particular, the sexual exploitation of girls by gangs is a serious problem currently facing law enforcement, courts, educators and social service programs across the country, according to a panel that met this week to discuss the issue. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention presented a webinar Wednesday through the Missing and Exploited Children’s Program to address promising practices for targeting the commercial sexual exploitation of girls in gangs. The webinar built on MECP’s June presentation about exploitation by offering organizations and individuals suggestions for internal practices and appropriate interaction with victims.

“The top thing that sexually abused, victimized girls say they want in treatment and in custody is someone to talk to,” said speaker Keith Burt, a retired deputy district attorney and former Chief of the Gang Prosecution Division in San Diego. “Someone they feel they can trust, that they can just talk to.”

Although the speakers acknowledged males and transgender individuals suffer from sexual exploitation by gangs, the victims are overwhelmingly female.

Afterschool Cutbacks Particularly Severe for African-American, Latino Communities

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The Afterschool Alliance recently released a new study evaluating the financial security of afterschool programs, finding that more than 60 percent of respondents reported a downturn in funding over the last three years. Uncertain Times 2012: Afterschool Programs Still Struggling in Today’s Economy  also finds that almost two out of every five programs reported having budgets that were “in worse shape” now than in 2008. Researchers say that funding issues are particularly severe for afterschool programs that predominantly serve Latino and African-American children, where almost 90 percent of children enrolled in such services also qualify for reduced-price lunch programs.

According to researchers, 68 percent of afterschool programs predominantly serving African-American children and 65 percent of programs serving predominantly Latino children reported reduced funding since 2009. Researchers report that roughly 70 percent of African-American majority programs state that their current budgets cannot sufficiently meet student and community needs, while 62 percent of Latino majority programs state that their budgets cannot fulfill the needs of children enrolled in such services. Additionally, 92 percent of predominantly Latino afterschool programs reported that children in the local community required afterschool care, but could not access it.

Policy Experts Address the Challenges Facing LGBT Youth in Lockup

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OJJDP Webinar examines difficulties in providing adequate services to detained LGBT populations
“Why are we focused on LGBTQI youth all of a sudden?” said Mykel Selph, director of the Office of Girls & Gender at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) in Illinois. The DePaul University adjunct professor answered her own inquiry by bringing up findings from a 2010 report that estimates that approximately 15 percent of incarcerated youth self-identify as LGBT and/or gender nonconforming. According to Selph, that means that as many as 40 juveniles in Cook County’s JTDC right now are part of a detained population she believes are often “largely invisible” in the eyes of most policymakers. Selph was one of three speakers presenting information at Tuesday’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Webinar, titled Understanding the Importance of Implementing an Effective Justice System Response for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth in Custody. The presentation, hosted by the National Training & Technical Assistance Center, is the third Webinar in the “Understanding and Overcoming the Challenges Faced by LGBTQI Youth” series.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Kids in Solitary Confinement

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When most Americans hear the constitutional phrase “cruel and unusual punishment” they can tell you what it means. Hanging. Flogging. Chain gangs. But high on my list of “cruel and unusual punishment” is sentencing juvenile offenders to solitary confinement.