When Juvie is a Haven

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Some young people would rather serve time in juvenile detention than be out on the street in their own neighborhood.  An insightful column in the Boston Globe spells out why:

“For some, juvenile detention is very much like summer camp — most people hate being shipped off, some never get adjusted, but after a while it’s not as bad as it seems. Good behavior is rewarded, and detainees can earn take-out, movie, and video game rights. Still, that is not what makes detention appealing. For some, it is the certainty that they will see another day…None of them liked juvenile detention, but they preferred it to facing death.”

Read the rest at Boston.com

Children Fighting Deportation

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Raphael was just seven years old when his mother brought him from Mexico to Gainesville, Georgia for a good education and better opportunities.  But by the time he was 16 his mother was arrested for drugs and deported. He dropped out of school and was working in a factory to support himself and his sister. Because he was brought here illegally, he constantly faced the threat of deportation to a country he knew only as a little boy. Now his mother’s dream for her children is about to be fulfilled. The Division of Family and Children Services learned of his situation and he was referred to Catholic Charities for legal help.

Drug Abuse and Mental Health

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85% of children treated for substance abuse also have mental health problems. The Child Welfare League of America reports this is a growing problem across the country.  In addition, 23.1 million people age 12 or older needed treatment for drugs or alcohol in 2008.  But only 9.9% of them got help at a specialty facility.

Fulton Jail Investigation

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Tax payer money may have been wasted at the Fulton County jail.  WSB-TV reports that $87,920 was spent on a GED program for inmates.  Seventeen prisoners got degrees at a cost of more than $5,000 per inmate.  Investigative reporter Richard Belcher says the program was run by the wife of a state legislator, while the jail already had a similar program that cost nothing. Watch the story on Channel 2 Action News

Additional links:

Fulton County Jail

GA Children Trapped by Immigration Debate

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While the battle over immigration plays out across the country, children of immigrants in Georgia face fear, anxiety and stress-related health problems, according to a report from the Sapelo Foundation.  Children who are U.S. citizens by birth, are getting separated from their families more often as local police agencies arrest illegal immigrants under the expanding 287 (g) program.  The study also found women and children  who are victims of assault and domestic abuse are afraid to call police because they fear getting deported.  In Immigration Enforcement and its Impact on Latino Children in the State of Georgia, author Elise Shore spells out long-term, traumatic consequences for children.   Among the recommendations:

Prohibit checkpoints and road blocks near schools, churches and day care centers
Local police should adopt ICE humanitarian guidelines for sole caregivers
The foster care system needs bilingual and bicultural workers to understand the needs of immigrants

Cutting Down On Sexting

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One in six teenagers is involved in sexting, according to research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. In most cases, the sexually explicit texts or images are sent from one child to another. Across the country, these messages are considered a form child pornography which can lead to prison time in many states. The Youth Online Safety Working Group gives advice on managing and preventing sexting incidents in Interdisciplinary Response to Youths Sexting.  They recommend that authorities determine legal action on a case by case basis, and increase awareness of polices and state laws to help cut down on the sexting problem. For more information:

Pew Internet and American Life Project

Gadgetell

Youth Online Safety Working Group

The Power of Partnerships

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Advocates for troubled teens can greatly benefit from partnering with families, according to the National Juvenile Justice Network.   NJJN’s An Advocates Guide to Meaningful Family Partnerships: Tips from the Field outlines ways to build advocate and family coalitions that push for practices that are fair and appropriate for kids. Louisiana’s Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth was infamous for “broken bones, black eyes, fractured jaws, and rapes” according to a report in Alter Net: Civil Liberties.  The facility was finally shut down once a major family group merged with a major advocacy group, the National Juvenile Justice Network points out. For more information about advocates partnering with families:

An Advocates Guide to Meaningful Family Partnerships: Tips from the Field

National Juvenile Justice Network

Moms Want Justice: Meaningful Family Partnerships in Juvenile Justice Reform

Alter Net: Civil Liberties

Rehabilitation – The Key?

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Rehabilitation, instead of incarceration, is being touted as a better way to handle juvenile offenders.  Matthew House, a divorce and family-law mediator in California, argues that detention and incarceration are pointless, overly expensive ways to manage juvenile lawbreakers. “Caging a wayward teen for a few years before releasing him back into society without remedying his behavior is foolhardy,” says House, who goes on to point out that half of kids who get imprisoned  end up reentering the system after getting out. House also claims rehabilitation is “eight times more financially effective, dollar for dollar, than incarceration.”

Read his op-ed piece in The Orange County Register. Photo courtesy abardwell

New Child Welfare Law Specialists

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Move over Atticus Finch, there’s a new kind of lawyer in town: The Child Welfare Law Specialist. Georgia now has 17 of these specialized attorneys, certified by the National Association of Counsel for Children. They are uniquely qualified to represent children, parents and state welfare agencies in abuse, neglect and dependency cases:

Jamie Averett
Patricia Buonodono
Darice Good
Diana Johnson
Mary McCord
Kimberly Mullins
Temika Murry
Anissa Patton
Jennifer Satija
LaMia Saxby
Brooke Silverthorn
Jamie Smith
Leslie Stewart
Marie Watson
Suzanne Whitaker
Ashley Willcott
Rosalind Zollicoffer

Specialists must pass a written exam on child welfare law, and prove their knowledge through peer review, education and writing.  The Child Welfare legal specialty is recognized by the American Bar Association, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau, The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and other groups

If you know someone who might qualify, check out the application.  The next application deadline is August 15, 2010

Normer Adams: Children in Need of Services

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SB 292 was introduced at the end of the 2009 legislative session as the Child Protection and Public Safety Act.  The intent of this important legislation is to comprehensively modernize and streamline the current stature concerning the juvenile code found in O.C.G.A. Title 15.  The current code was adopted in 1971 and has been revised several times since.  It is considered so out of date that the Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution in 2005 calling for its complete overhaul.  SB 292 did not pass in the 2010 session, but was introduced purely to move the legislation forward in the next session. The code needs to be modernized for several reasons.  It is so confusing and disorganized that even the most experienced judges and lawyers have trouble using it.  It must be updated to comply with federal law dealing with child welfare and the federal funds attached to those laws.  The revision of the code reflects the best practices of other states and evidence based practices of child welfare.  We know more about child development than we did when the code was developed in 1971.  This understanding needs to be reflected in Georgia's laws. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on this piece of legislation on Monday, August 9th at 2 pm at the Capitol in room 450.  They will be hearing testimony on Article 6 in the code to create a new approach for intervening with children who are currently considered "unruly."  Children in Need of Services (CHINS) include children who have committed an act that would not be against the law but for the fact that they are children, such as skipping school, running away from home, drinking alcohol, and violating curfew.  This would also include children who are "habitually disobedient" to their parents and place themselves or others in unsafe circumstances through their behavior.  The courts now intervene with these children as if they were delinquency cases rather than in the more holistic, service-oriented approach of the rewrite. This approach has shown to be more effective, more cost efficient and more protective of public safety. __________________________

Normer Adams is Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children and a writer, speaker and consultant on family and social issues such as advocacy, lobbying, and child welfare policy. Learn more at www.gahsc.org/