Update from the Juvenile Justice Work Group

Vera President
Nicholas Turner

The update from YTFG’s Juvenile Justice Work Group just landed on my laptop, and I thought that it might help many of our readers who are trying to stay abreast of advances in the different sectors of the youth field. Thanks to Michele Weemhoff for her excellent summaries!

Wins

Juvenile justice advocates continue to flip policy after policy, state by state. The latest is in New Hampshire, where HB 1624, signed into law July 11, raises the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 18.

Colorado passed House Bill 1032 to ensure all children are represented by counsel when they appear in court. The National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) and the Colorado Juvenile Defender Coalition (CJDC) used a report, An Assessment of Access to Counsel and Quality of Representation in Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings, to draw attention to the issue. Now, every Colorado child who appears at a detention hearing must be represented by counsel, without delaying the court process. The bill additionally mandates that information directing youth to the public defender’s office be included in court summonses for young people who are not held in custody. These changes will go into effect November 1, 2014. (Here is an article in Rolling Stone about it).

Washington passed House Bill 1651 to keep the majority of juvenile records confidential. According to the Seattle Times, “Courts would be required to hold sealing hearings on juveniles’ 18th birthday or upon completion of the sentence if that comes later. Judges would be bound to seal the record if the minor completed the sentence; the crime was not a most serious offense, sex offense or felony-drug offense; and there was no compelling reason for it not to be sealed. Courts would also have to automatically seal the record immediately upon acquittal or dismissal of charges.”

Investments from Foundations

The MacArthur Foundation and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have selected Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Tennessee to participate in the Improving Diversion Policies and Programs for Justice-Involved Youth with Behavioral Health Disorders: An Integrated Policy Academy-Action Network Initiative. According to the MacArthur Foundation, “The presence of behavioral health disorders in youth creates unique challenges for the juvenile justice system at both the policy and program levels. To achieve positive outcomes for these youth, juvenile justice, behavioral health, and other relevant systems must increase collaboration, continuity of care, and access to integrated, evidence-based, or promising-practice screening and treatment models.”

New Report

The Vera Institute’s report, Prosecution and Racial Justice in New York County – Technical Report, is generating discussion about why “black and Hispanic defendants are more likely to be held in jail before trial and more likely to be offered plea bargains that include a prison sentence than whites and Asians charged with the same crimes.” Vera Institute President Nicholas Turner was quoted in the New York Times, explaining that the researchers don’t know exactly what is causing this situation. “It could be implicit bias,” Turner said. “It could also be race-neutral policies that end up having a particular disparate effect.”

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) has released Close to Home: Strategies to Place Young People in Their Communities. This policy brief describes strategies for juvenile justice stakeholders to reduce the number of young people placed in secure facilities. Key strategies include developing a decision point to review alternatives to out-of-home placement, building a local continuum of placement and treatment options, and reducing lengths of stay in facilities at various points in the system. Learn more.

The Youth Advocate Programs' Policy and Advocacy Center has released Safely Home. This report highlights cost-effective, community-based alternatives to incarceration for high-needs youth. Learn more.