Virginia Officials Consider Reopening Closed Juvenile Detention Center

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Later this summer, officials in Richmond, Va., are considering reopening a juvenile detention center closed last year because of mismanagement, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. The opening of the center hinges on whether Richmond’s Department of Juvenile Services (RDJS) can adhere to a set of 26 recommendations outlined in a City Audit Committee report last week. Among the city’s recommendations are the development of broader truancy programs, improved training for staff and better tracking of juvenile data regarding assessments and recidivism. The Richmond Juvenile Detention Center was shuttered last April, amid reports of staff misconduct, training document forgeries and recordkeeping oversights. Virginia’s Board of Juvenile Justice had placed the facility on probation twice since 2009, before it was eventually closed in 2012.

Idaho JDC Wants Records Sealed

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The Associated Press reports that the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections (IDJC) is pushing to have all of its records — from juvenile offender files to personnel records — sealed from the public in the wake of a lawsuit filed by employees at a detention facility in Nampa, Idaho. Last year, the group filed a federal suit, alleging employee fraud and inaction on the behalf of managers to rectify unsafe policies or reprimand juveniles for inappropriate contact with one another. The employees also allege that at the Nampa facility, several staffers had sex with underage residents. The state’s Department of Juvenile Corrections recently asked the attorney of the employees that filed the suit to agree to a proposal that would keep the Department’s records confidential, even once the case is decided. The IDJC has informed Andrew Schoppe, the attorney representing the suits’ plaintiffs, that it will release certain documents about sexual abuse policies and material related to reported incidents of sexual abuse at the facility.

Listenbee Takes Over as Federal Head of Juvenile Justice

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Defense attorney Robert Listenbee Jr., who led the juvenile defense unit at the Defender Association of Philadelphia since 1997, took the oath of office today to become the first permanent administrator of the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in more than four years. The OJJDP updated its website Monday morning to announce Listenbee’s first day of work, which comes seven weeks after President Barack Obama announced hisintent to nominate him to the post and more than four years since the president first took office. J. Robert Flores, the last permanent administrator, resigned his position in 2008 under then-President George W. Bush. In January 2009, Bush appointed Jeff Slowikowski as acting administrator, a position he held for three years. In January 2012, Slowikowski was replaced by Melodee Hanes.

In Georgia, Youth and Adult Lock-ups Have Equal Teen Felony Recidivism Rates

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ATLANTA – Georgia legislators split the difference when they toughened juvenile justice laws in 1994. They stiffened sentences for the most violent crimes, sending some teens to adult prisons. But lawmakers also gave courts discretion to keep some of the serious offenders in the state’s juvenile facilities. Two decades later, though, a new data analysis shows Georgia's juvenile system has turned out just as high a percentage of repeat offenders as its adult prisons. Whether teens spent time in youth detention centers or adult lock-ups for targeted violent crimes, the analysis found, their felony recidivism rates have been virtually identical.

Reporter’s Notebook: DJJ Bill Could Seal Reports of Staff Misconduct

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Allegations of wrongdoing in the state’s juvenile prisons could be sealed from public view under a bill considered yesterday by a House subcommittee
Witnesses representing the state Department of Juvenile Justice, which requested the bill, said it was intended to protect children in custody from possible retaliation for reporting gang or other criminal activity. The current version of the bill, though, makes no mention of gangs or juvenile crime. Rather, it would exempt from disclosure “the information provided by children who report abuses or wrongdoing in the juvenile justice system,” unless the child or his or her representative consent in writing. An earlier version of the bill would have taken secrecy a step further, classifying “investigation reports and intelligence data” about alleged abuses and wrongdoing as “confidential state secrets” that would be exempt from the Open Records Act. Only the DJJ commissioner could declassify them.

Commission Report Critical of Conditions at West Virginia Youth Facilities

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West Virginia Industrial Home for Youth / Photo by WV Division of Juvenile Services
This week, West Virginia’s Adjudicated Juvenile Rehabilitation Review Commission approved a report citing numerous concerns about Division of Juvenile Service programs at the Industrial Home for Youth in Salem, W. Va., and the Kenneth “Honey” Rubenstein Juvenile Center in Davis, W.Va. Established in 2011, the Commission completed a full report on conditions at the two facilities last December. Initial Commission findings included cold cells, limited showering opportunities and “questionable quality and quantity of food.” Additionally, the Commission reported that residents had limited academic services, virtually no behavioral management unit services and no gender-specific programming in place for female detainees. The Commission was originally established to investigate the death of a resident at the Industrial Home for Youth in 2009. While an official cause of death was never determined by the Commission, investigators said that “it can be safely concluded that procedures were not followed” at the facility.

Opinion: Stop-And-Frisk, It’s Time For a Change

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One afternoon, I was standing at a bus stop and I noticed an NYPD car driving slowly. As the officer approached, he slowed down. Bravely, he stared down each individual on the bus line. I caught his stare. He seemed just as suspicious of me as I was of him.

Shake-up Underway at Federal Office of Juvenile Justice

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(L-R) Robert Listenbee, Joe Torre, Melodee Hanes
Major changes in leadership, structure and funding are underway at the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, changes that are likely to impact the way the office extends assistance to the field. For starters, the office will soon get its first permanent chief in more than four years. Robert Listenbee Jr., a widely-praised juvenile defense attorney from Philadelphia and the Obama administration’s pick for office administrator, will probably start work by early next month, several nationally connected juvenile justice leaders said. By the time Listenbee takes over from acting Administrator Melodee Hanes, the office will already be operating under a new streamlined vision and a major reorganization of its staff, programs and grants. The restructuring, which has been under development for months and is happening now, includes the creation of new office divisions focusing on policy areas like youth development, community development and juvenile justice improvement, Hanes told members of a national advisory committee this week.

Fledgling NJ Program Paves a Path from Corrections to College

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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.

Exclusive Interview with Robert Listenbee, Incoming Head of Federal Office of Juvenile Justice

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JJIE.org spoke on the phone Monday with defense attorney Robert Listenbee Jr., who was recently picked by President Barack Obama to lead the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the U.S. Department of Justice. The office has not had a permanent administrator for four years. Listenbee, who has not yet received a formal federal appointment, continues to head the juvenile unit at the Defenders Association of Philadelphia in the meantime. Listenbee spoke about the insights he brings to the national stage based upon his experiences with the juvenile justice system in Pennsylvania, and how his time as a law student at the University of California, Berkeley, and his stint as a secondary school teacher in Kenya as a young Harvard student sparked his passion for working with young people. Below are excerpts from the conversation.