Families Unlocking Futures: Solutions to the Crisis in Juvenile Justice

In 2001, my 13-year-old son, Corey, was sent to what the New York Times called “the worst juvenile prison in the country.”

What crime had he committed that earned him this hellish journey to the Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth in Louisiana? He stole a $300 stereo out of pick up after he smashed out the window with a crowbar. His sentence was five years in one of the most brutal facilities in the United States. The families of children who are system involved are often thought of as lazy, uneducated, uncaring or worse. But a new report by  Justice for Families (J4F) gives us a much different picture of families and relies on substantial data rather than outdated myths and stereotypes.