Restorative justice partnerships: Group of around 20 smiling people all wearing lime green t-shirts stand and sit in 3-4 rows on an artificial green turf field surrounded by tall city buildings

Justice organization announces new youth restorative justice partners

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Equal Justice USA (EJUSA) announced October 8 that it will partner with four new communities to build new restorative youth justice diversion programs. Restorative justice includes an accountability process that identifies root causes of youth criminal actions, while providing an opportunity for healing both for the person harmed and the person who has caused harm.

Juvenile justice reform Louisiana: Person with dark hair sits on steps behind bars with head in hands wearing orange jumpsuit

The seemingly endless cycle of reforms in juvenile justice

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On Tuesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced that the state will try to shut down its three large youth correctional facilities in favor of building smaller and less centralized units. The decision came at the urging of a working group assembled by the governor that also recommended the state stop incarcerating teenagers convicted for the first time of non-violent crimes and children under 14 in state youth prisons.

Youth in a blue prisoner jumper holds a book behind his back and is the last in a line of juveniles who are at a detention center get books as a part of a summer reading program.

National report highlights severe cost of inadequate juvenile justice system

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Washington, D.C. – Fight Crime: Invest in Kids released their report “Costly, Punitive Juvenile Justice Approaches Undermine Healthy Adolescent Development,” during a virtual briefing that brought together experts to discuss the urgent need for reform in the juvenile justice system. One key highlight: Rather than helping to fix juvenile crime in America, our current justice system often makes it worse. The report shows that our juvenile justice system often fails to consider the realities of adolescent development. Adolescents, unlike adults, are still maturing cognitively, meaning they lack the capacity to effectively self-regulate, plan for the future, or control impulses.

Juvenile detention populations low: Young black teen lies on bed with legs propped up on wall on cot in empty room with grey cement floor and white walls

Tennessee lawmakers want more oversight of juvenile detention. The Department of Children’s Services is pushing back.

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The commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services publicly said this month that the agency was working with lawmakers to address oversight gaps at juvenile detention facilities across the state. But behind the scenes, the department is working to water down a bill that would do just that, according to one of the bill’s sponsors and others working on the legislation.

Trauma-informed hubs: Teen standing in ladder next to kitchen back door with back to camera folding tool and doing repairs to ceiling above refrigerator

Trauma-informed ‘hubs’ reduce Chicago youth incarceration

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A 65% reduction in youth incarceration between 2005 and 2021 and the closing of two youth prisons during that time are among the great strides of Redeploy Illinois, an innovative Cook County program allowing communities to tailor state-funded juvenile treatment services to meet their particular characteristics and needs.

Disabled students at higher risk for arrests, dropping out: male detention worker walks a black juvenile offender down a hallway

Juvenile justice staffing crisis: Time to reimagine our approach

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We recently conducted a survey of juvenile justice agencies on their staff hiring and retention challenges. Over 200 individual state and local juvenile corrections and probation agencies representing 37 states and over 190 counties reported that they are facing greater staffing difficulties than at any time in the past 10 years.