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Juvenile Justice Summer Research Project 2021
Juvenile Justice Summer Research Project 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS
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The Practice of Restorative Justice
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Rehabilitation in the Juvenile Justice System
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Economic Issues: Impact of Poverty on Incarceration/Crimes of Poverty
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How Identity Affects Treatment from Law Enforcement
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The School to Prison Pipeline
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Mental Illness in the Juvenile Justice System
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Access to Education
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Sources
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The Practice of Restorative Justice Written by Mimi Lee-Sacred Heart Greenwich, Anna Wiss-Villa Duchesne, and Olivia Rounsaville-Convent & Stuart Hall Today’s criminal justice system often utilizes a punitive approach to justice, one which intends to identify and punish perpetrators of a crime. While some believe this method to be effective in all criminal justice cases, the punitive justice process is not always the most useful or sustainable option. Punitive justice, often resulting in incarceration of the offender, neglects an examination of the root causes and circumstances of the crime. Moreover, punitive justice does not ensure any healing, not only for the victim and the surrounding community, but for the offender as well, instead focusing only on proportionate punishment. Restorative justice, on the other hand, offers a different approach in enacting justice. Originating from traditions of Indigenous peoples, restorative justice differs from punitive justice in that it does not only focus on laws broken by an individual. Rather, the restorative justice method operates under the premise that reconciliation between the parties involved in the crime is the most effective way to promote healing and justice. Restorative justice addresses the harm done to people, relationships, and communities by a crime, and seeks ways to repair this harm. Necessitating a facilitator, and the willing participation of all parties involved in a crime, the restorative justice process grants both the perpetrator and victim an equal voice in recounting the circumstances of a crime and its impact. These types of discussions are often referred to as “circle processes.” Through forming a relationship and establishing empathy, both parties can more effectively reach an agreement on the offender’s consequences and steps moving forward.
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Stories of Restorative Justice 1.
A young man broke into the house of an officer and stole several electronics. Those involved opted for a restorative justice approach and participated in a circle process, ultimately deciding that the offender would do chores in the officer’s house to be held accountable for his theft. Because the stolen electronics were not as important to the officer as his children’s fear of home invasion, the restorative justice approach allowed his children and the offender to meet, listen, and learn, and eventually heal. The offender was able to explain his financial circumstances motivating the crime and understand the feelings of the officer’s family. The family was then able to share their perspective, but also grow in empathy and understanding. In the end, the officer who owned the home walked across the circle and gave the young man his business card, along with an invitation for him to call any time for assistance, or even just to play some basketball. While the young man was still held accountable for his actions, he was able to widen his support system and avoid incarceration. Source: Group leader Jane Steinfels
2. Laura Coel, who was sexually abused as a child by her step-father, decided to participate in a restorative justice program years after her abuser was released from incarceration. Laura’s decision to forgive her abuser was rooted in a desire to move on from her childhood trauma and heal. The National Probation Service in Northumbria, who organized the discussion, prepared with Laura for 11 months before the event during which extensive efforts were made to ensure her safety. Laura was able to visit the meeting place beforehand and plan out where everyone would sit. The program also paid special attention to her mental health throughout the process and ensured she had access to a therapist before and after the meeting. During the event, Laura asked her abuser a set of questions she had sent him before the start of the meeting. During the meeting, the abuser apologized for his actions and Laura left no longer feeling angry, and ready to move forward with her life. Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34571936 3. A white supremacist painted swastikas on multiple buildings including two synagogues and a congressman’s door. An attorney for the US Attorney’s office suggested that he participate in a restorative justice program so that he may better understand the impact of his actions. Before the meeting, mediators listened to stories from the victims and the perpetrator who expressed no remorse for his actions. During the event, the victims described their side of the story and how his decisions caused them pain. As a result, the young man expressed extreme guilt for what he had done and promised never to do it again. Years later, the restorative justice program reached out to the man’s attorney who confirmed that he had not committed another hate crime. Source: https://www.sdrjmp.org/stories/ For more stories on the success of restorative justice, visit here, or here!.
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Rehabilitation in the Juvenile Justice System Written by Nora O’Neill-Newton Country Day, Adele Feldberg-Stone Ridge, and Ava Gueck-Villa Duchesne Rehabilitation in the USA requires reform and attention. Many youth and young adults enter the juvenile justice system and subsequently return to a life of drugs, violence, and economic hardship. The purpose of rehabilitation is to prevent this recycled process and create a structure that offers the youth options for a stronger support system. Those working within the centers today notice that the rehabilitation and release forms are not written transparently for the youth depending on them. In other words, there is a lack of advocacy for the incarcerated teenagers, as most minors do not know how to interpret legal contracts. For the rehabilitation process to have a higher success rate and a beneficial impact on juveniles, workers are looking into creating stronger alternatives within the centers. Tamela Meehan, an attorney working with the juvenile court and probation, advocates for alternatives: evening reporting centers, home confinement with electronic monitoring, short-term shelter care, foster care, and clinical interventions division. Tamela emphasizes that offering teenagers a place away from the streets or violent home life helps not only redirect their attention to their education but also provides them with a healthy environment. The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ), created in 2006, was developed as a way to focus on juvenile rehabilitation rather than punishment. Due to lack of resources, the IDJJ has found it difficult to achieve this goal. Each year, nearly $130 million in tax dollars are spent on the IDJJ, as it costs immense amounts of money to imprison youth in Illinois. Even with this large number in tax dollars, the IDJJ fails to offer the incarcerated youth proper rehabilitation services. However, Redeploy Illinois, a state-funded program that places its focus on redirecting youth in participating communities, has a much higher success rate of reducing recidivism than the IDJJ. Through Redeploy, participating communities receive funds to offer youth rehabilitative opportunities within their communities, including services such as case management, court advocacy, education assistance, counseling, and crisis intervention. According to Redeploy Illinois, there’s a recorded 14.2% reincarceration rate for participants, while there’s a 57.4% reincarceration rate for non-participants. Research from Redeploy Illinois shows that youth who have committed nonviolent offenses are less likely to participate in criminal behavior again if they receive proper services while remaining in their home communities; this is exactly what Redeploy ensures. This program is seen as a model for other states in correcting ineffective juvenile justice systems and is praised as a successful way to prevent young people from future criminal behavior. Since 2006, the number of juvenile arrests for violent crimes has decreased fifty percent and arrests for property crimes has decreased seventy-three percent. While this is progress, there is still 5
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work to be done on the post-detention center side. In a statistic provided by Emily Cortina, a staff member at the Kolbe House, it is said that nearly forty-three percent of adults will be re-arrested within three years of being discharged. The increased rearrest rate is a result of the ineffective rehabilitation offered to those formerly incarcerated. Within the Juvenile Justice System, the two most influential legislative acts are The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1997 and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act reviews the conditions and practices used on the youths in detention facilities and rehabilitation sites. While the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act permits the federal justice system to file a lawsuit against local or state governments regarding the safety of the youth within these centers. These pieces of legislation are a key component in creating a more fair system for incarcerated minors. They build boundaries within the system, protecting the lives and well-being of those living in the centers. Rehabilitation implies many things in the justice system. It could consist of psychological assistance, therapy programs, medical assistance, educational programs, job opportunities, and probation rules and regulations. Rehabilitation is meant to restore the teenager or child facing time and prevent the continuation of crimes. As Northwestern's School of Law discusses in their Rehabilitative Release of Youth From Illinois Prisons, the two most important resources teenagers deserve when leaving the system are access to an attorney and a release decision procedure provided to them that is “concise and timely.”
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Economic Issues: Impact of Poverty on Incarceration/Crimes of Poverty Written by Adele Fratesi-Convent & Stuart Hall, Leah Allen-Sacred Heart Greenwich, and Cali Jane Luetkemeier-Academy of the Sacred Heart the Rosary Poverty and Mass Incarceration I. Poverty is a key reason for mass incarceration in the USA. The USA currently has 2.2 million people incarcerated, half of which are imprisoned due to minor drug offenses, their inability to pay bail, and crimes related to an incapability to pay debt and fines (Pew Research Center). The incarceration rate has increased by 4.3% in the last fifty years, but not because crime has increased. Since the 1990s, crime has decreased, but the arrest rate significantly increased, especially for people involved in crimes of poverty. These arrest rates have disproportionately affected low-income and minority populations that form about ⅔ of the prison population as of 2020. A crime of poverty is a crime related to deprivation, whether that deprivation is of food, money, housing, goods, or another human need. Poverty Leads to Increased Crime II. People living in poverty are more likely to commit crimes of poverty which can affect the rest of their lives. Additionally, mental illness, which impacts poorer communities disproportionately, can go untreated because individuals do not have access to providers, insurance, or the ability to pay for the medication or treatments they need. Without this access, individuals with undiagnosed or untreated mental illnesses are more likely to commit crimes, including those of a violent nature, according to vittana.org. Crimes of poverty include drug offenses, inability to pay fines, house notes, bail, and sometimes include burglary. When people, especially children, live in poverty without food, transportation, and sometimes even a place to live, they often get involved in crimes of poverty to attain the necessary resources to live. Instead of rehabilitating imprisoned youths effectively and helping them be able to receive the resources they need in a legitimate and honest way, the justice system puts them in “crowded, unsanitary, unsafe, and unstimulating” environments. Impoverished youths charged with even small crimes are not able to pay bail and are stuck in detention centers for extended periods. The justice system criminalizes people in poverty and does not provide them with help or guidance. This cycle of poverty, criminalization, and incarceration creates an unjust system and targets impoverished communities to be more likely to end up in prison.
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Poverty Impacts Incarceration and Reincarceration III. The main causes of incarceration are poverty and over-criminalization. A person living in poverty is more susceptible to being arrested and charged with harsh crimes with longer sentences. Data from the U.S Sentencing Commission shows that between 1999 and 2016, people with a college education were given 4.6 to 7.8 percent shorter sentences than individuals without one. The individuals without college educations were from lower-income families, which illustrates how individuals with low incomes are more likely to be arrested. Similarly, according to the Brookings Institution, 49% of incarcerated men were employed in the three years before prison. Of that 49%, only 13% had annual earnings over $15,000, while the average annual earnings were about $6,250. These individuals are more likely to grow up in areas of high unemployment and poverty. Further studies show that “children who grow up in poverty are more likely to have developmental issues, which inhibit impulse control, cause low self-esteem, and reduce educational achievements, each of which may contribute to the likelihood of committing a crime.” Poverty also deeply affects reincarceration. When prisoners are released, it is hard to get a job with a criminal record. Without a job, released prisoners are stuck in the same situation as they were before and left in poverty. These youths and adults often fall into the same cycle and get involved in crimes of poverty. Even if a person is not involved in criminal activity after serving time, they are often still criminalized by the police force and justice system. They are much more likely to be arrested again than someone without a criminal record, even for a minor offense or no real offense at all. How Poverty Influences Crime: I. Lack of Opportunities and Resources Individuals and communities that lack access to general resources and positive opportunities are often linked to higher rates of violent and petty crime. In addition, the lack of access to appropriate mental or physical health resources in low-income communities contributes to a cycle of poverty in which individuals struggling with mental or
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physical illnesses are more likely to lose job opportunities or miss school. This increases their chances of committing crime to meet a basic need. According to prisonpolicy.org, an overwhelming amount of incarcerated youth in the USA are locked up for non-violent offenses, according to prisonpolicy.org. Often, individuals who commit petty crimes like theft, burglary, or drug trafficking, commit these crimes to meet their basic needs. II.
Location: High Rates of Crime in Low-Income Communities
Inside and outside of school, there is a large opportunity gap in low-income neighborhoods in comparison to more affluent communities. Students in inner-city neighborhoods lack the programming, extra-curricular or afterschool opportunities, and support they need to empower them and provide safe creative outlets. This contributes to a mindset among youth that worthwhile opportunities do not exist for them. Furthermore, lack of educational and youth resources and opportunities results in young people feeling the need to “fight for themselves” because they feel the system is not fighting for them. This can lead to an increase in gang involvement which is sometimes linked to higher crime rates in inner cities and more juvenile arrests. III. The Prison Industrial Complex The Critical Resistance Project defines the Prison Industrial Complex as a term used to describe the “overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social, and political problems,” according to criticalresistance.org. The Prison Industrial Complex helps to maintain the authority of people who derive power from privileges related to their racial and economic status. The power is maintained, in part, by garnering large profits for private corporations that deal with prisons and police forces, funding the political campaigns of politicians who advocate for mass incarceration, and eliminating dissent from oppressed communities advocating for criminal justice reform. In a lot of ways, especially those indicated above, the USA’s justice system criminalizes poverty. Because of the Prison Industrial Complex, those in power are encouraging citizens not to invest in community-based anti-poverty efforts and instead continue the trend of over-criminalization and mass incarceration, although mass incarceration has not been shown to prevent crime. To break the cycle of incarceration and poverty, 9
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the USA must start investing in alternatives. “Stopping the Cycle”: Preventative Measures To prevent the continuation of the poverty to prison pipeline, the root causes of incarceration related to poverty must be examined to limit occurrences that lead to mass incarceration. Implementing preventative measures such as the ones listed below will ideally aid in limiting the injustices faced by those facing poverty that lead to increased crime, incarceration, and reincarceration. I. Increase employment An initial step in preventing poverty requires an increase in employment rates. According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “for the poor, labor is often the only asset they can use to improve their well-being.” The creation of job opportunities and public benefits can be achieved by governmental investments into infrastructure, such as the building of bridges and mass transit. II. Raising America’s pay An additional preventive measure to combating poverty surrounds the federal minimum wage. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour, which results in an annual wage of $15,080 for a full-time job, 52 weeks a year. This annual wage is below the federal poverty threshold for a family of two which is $17,240 a year. A solution to preventing continued poverty in communities relies upon government willingness to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. Some states have begun to make efforts to address this, with the minimum wage in California being $14/hour, $13.69/hour in Washington, and $13.50/hour in Massachusetts. III. Ending cash bail A cash bail system requires those convicted to pay a sum of money designated by the court to release themselves from detention. The motivation for this practice is to ensure that the defendant will show for their trial, but in reality, it further exacerbates inequities in the justice system and criminalizes the poor as they are not able to pay the bail. Three out of five individuals in U.S jails have not been convicted of a crime, amounting to half a million people who must stay in jail each day, although they have not been legally pronounced guilty. These individuals are unable to pay their cash bail and thus are detained for weeks, months, or even years as they await trial. This prolonged detention causes already vulnerable populations to lose jobs, housing, or custody of their children. Apart from the effect, this has on their personal life, those detained in jail may experience lasting trauma from sexual assault or a decline in mental and physical health. To ensure that those experiencing poverty don't have to spend unjust periods in pretrial detention, jurisdictions can work to end cash bail. In doing so, all defendants would be treated equally upon waiting for trial, regardless of income. 10
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IV. Community centers and resources Another measure proven to prevent crime is free access to community resources in low-income populations. In a study conducted by researchers at NYU, crime rates and the addition of nonprofits focused on crime prevention, neighborhood development, and youth programming were compared across 264 cities in the U.S. between 1990 and 2013. They found that each additional nonprofit organization led to a 1.2 percent drop in the homicide rate, a one percent drop in violent crime rate, and a 0.7 percent drop in property crime rate. With the presence of safe community centers where teens can engage in productive activities, the temptation for crime decreases. V. Public housing/public safety Inadequate housing can result in an increased risk of arrest and incarceration for vulnerable populations. Those living in high poverty areas are prone to be more affiliated with crime, whether as a witness, victim, or person convicted. One in 10 young adults ages 18 to 24 experience homelessness, and nearly half have also been incarcerated, according to the Coalition for Juvenile Justice. A lack of stable housing may lead young adults to be unable to pay fines, sleep outdoors, or juvenile curfews, all of which can result in incarceration. Public housing as a preventative strategy requires the implementation of decent quality housing that poses no negative health effects or safety hazards for occupants. Decent quality housing lessens the risk of children missing school or developing mental or physical illnesses, all of which could lead to an absence of community involvement, thus encouraging the pipeline to incarceration for underprivileged youth lacking necessary resources. Takeaway Currently, poverty and incarceration rates are increasing at a rapid rate. The USA is imprisoning over 1 million people for low-level offenses that are indirectly related to their poverty and over half a million people because of their inability to pay bail. The use of cash bail is punishing people for their poverty and unemployment while specifically attacking racial and ethnic minorities. The American Action Forum states that “without reducing poverty and income inequality, racial bias, and the overcriminalization of activities related to poverty, the USA will not meaningfully reduce its prison population.” Poverty directly affects incarceration rates and by reducing poverty, we can have a safe and just nation.
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How Identity Affects Treatment from Law Enforcement Written by Monicah Thuita-Villa Duchesne Aspects of an individual’s identity affect their encounters with law enforcement and the justice system. Black individuals are discriminated against by cops and the justice system as a whole. Due to deep-rooted white supremacist views of Black men as aggressors or savages, today they are often seen as criminals. Although being Black is enough to make a cop have his hand on his gun, if one was to have other marginalized identities on top of being Black the situation could become much more hostile. Black transgender people, in addition to being grossly disrespected in society, often experience violent and unpleasant encounters with police. Transgender people today face an epidemic of hatred and anti-trans violence. Half of transgender people report they are uncomfortable seeking police assistance. 22% of transgender people who interacted with law enforcement reported harassment, and 6% of transgender individuals reported that they experienced bias-motivated assault by officers. Black transgender people reported much higher rates of biased harassment and assault (38% and 15%). (Reforming Police and Ending Anti-Transgender Violence) In addition, with the over-policing of Black communities, there is always someone waiting for them to make one mistake to trap them in the endless cycle of imprisonment, which adds to the distrust of cops in those areas. Furthermore, the justice system's inadequate portrayal of marginalized people has contributed to a large amount of them being in prisons. Public defenders are criminally overworked. In Colorado, Missouri, and Rhode Island, the typical public defender has two to three times the workload they should provide an adequate defense. In Louisiana, defenders have almost five times the appropriate workload. With this gigantic workload they are not able to provide the defense a client needs, but with most of their clients not being able to afford a lawyer, they have no choice but to accept this subpar defense. Therefore, leading to Black and other people of color being continuously failed by these systems.
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The School to Prison Pipeline Written by Lucy Vaicius-Academy of the Sacred Heart, The Rosary and Maggie Gaudian - Newton Country Day School The school-to-prison pipeline is a national social phenomenon in which children are funneled through their school system and into the juvenile justice system. Many children subjected to this increasingly present practice have learning disabilities, experience poverty, or are abused and neglected. Instead of receiving the care and attention they need, they are pushed into an unknown system and forced to “fend for themselves”. School’s Zero Tolerance policies and police presence on campus are two of the main contributors to the pipeline. Keep reading to learn more. Police Presence The ever-growing abundance of police on high school campuses is one of the leading contributors to the school-to-prison pipeline. Often schools in under-resourced communities rely on police rather than on teachers to teach and enforce discipline to students because of expenses. This trend also is representative of how children and students coming out of underprivileged areas are likely to fall victim to the system. As police are now “enforcers of discipline” on campus, there are more likely to be arrests made for nonviolent offenses, like the eleven-year-old boy in Virginia who was arrested for kicking a trash can (reported by The World). The commonality of nonviolent arrests is believed by many to support the criminalization and dehumanization of teens and children of color. Law enforcement in American high schools increased by a staggering 38% in just the ten years between 1997 to 2007. The NIA Project reported that in 2010, Chicago public schools (who use police officers) were offered $25,000 to relinquish the officers and only 4 schools chose to do so. Many activists such as Ethan Viets-Vanlear, whom we spoke to this week, are working to improve the police presence for schools in the country.As more attention is brought to the current situation, hopefully we as a country can begin to move towards a more peaceful future. Communities of Color and the Pipeline Within the trend of the school-to-prison pipeline, students of color are at a disadvantage.. Education Week reports that: nation-wide, Black males are 3 times more likely to be arrested than their white peers, even Black female students are 1.5 times more likely to be arrested than white male students. According to Project NIA, in cities, such as Chicago, the majority of the public schools are made up of students of color, where 45% of students are Black and 41%
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are Latinx. While Black students make up less than half of the student population of Chicago, they make up nearly 74% of the student arrests that happen within the city's public schools. Overall, a school is 70% more likely to refer to local law enforcement rather than administrators. There are clear disparities between the way students of color and White students are treated when rules are broken. School Zone drug laws Because of school zone drug laws across the US students are flooding into the prison system for nonviolent drug offenses.. When Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs in the 1970s, arrests for nonviolent drug crimes increased. School zone drug laws were zones around schools enacted to protect youth from the dangers of drugs, but have resulted in youth offenders facing harsher punishments for drug-related offenses. In areas around schools, there are harsher punishments for drugs and stricter enforcement, which leads to an overwhelming flow of students through the school-to-prison pipeline. Solutions Many problems have contributed to this continuous flow of students from schools to prisons. Reforms need to be made nationally, in states, school districts, and individual institutions. In cities such as Denver and Minneapolis, schools have begun to sever ties with their local police departments to protect their students from ending up in prison. Other districts have made agreements with their local police departments on limiting the number of arrests at schools and decreasing the use of restraint for nonviolent crimes. Other states have increased training for teachers and administrators on handling crime and disobedience in their schools. The goal is to reduce reliance on police because they have ultimately caused more harm for the students than good. School institutions are encouraging eliminating no-tolerance school-to-prison policies and being more understanding of each student's situation. To ensure students have an equitable opportunity at school, administrators should provide clarity on rules and regulations (especially in regards with police).Minors are in a growing period of their lives, and they should not be treated with no tolerance policies but instead given a chance to try again.
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Mental Illness in the Juvenile Justice System Written by Elle Decker-Villa Duchesne Mental disorders are widespread among young people in the juvenile justice system with as many as 70% of teenagers having diagnosable mental health problems. These young people have depression, anxiety, and even dissociative issues. While suffering from these disorders, young people can act out against others close to them at home or school. This can cause them to get in trouble and face serious consequences. Juvenile justice systems use a range of tools including screening and assessment to gauge the psychological state of juvenile offenders. The goal of screening for mental health problems is to identify youths who would possibly need a direct response such as medication or additional attention to their mental health needs. The assessment aims to try to collect enough comprehensive and personalized profiles of youth to find a solution for the different possible problems. The assessment is done on selected youths who have higher needs found through previous screenings. A significant proportion of youths within the juvenile justice system have an identifiable mental state disorder. Studies have shown that two-thirds of youth in detention or punitive settings have a minimum of one diagnosable mental health problem. The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that “11.4% adolescents aged 11 to 17 had a major depressive episode in the past year, although the survey did not provide an overall measure of mental illness among adolescents (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality 2015). Similarly, a systematic review by Fazel and Langstrom (2008) found that youths in detention and correctional facilities were almost 10 times more likely to suffer from psychosis than youths in the general population.” (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED590855.pdf) The relationship between mental health problems and the juvenile justice system is very complex because some youth offenders do not have a mental health problem, and many young people who have a mental health problem do not offend. Certain risk factors could increase both mental health and problem behaviors in young people. For example, exposure to violence can increase mental health issues, such as posttraumatic stress, in youth and increase the occurrence of delinquent behavior (Finkelhor et al. 2009). Additionally, researchers have found that some behavior issues and substance use disorders do increase the likelihood of delinquency, violence, and contact with the justice system. There has been a connection between childhood violence exposure and antisocial behavior. This includes delinquency, gang involvement, substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and aggression. “92.5 percent of detained youths reported at least one traumatic experience, and 84 percent reported more than one.” (Abram et al. 2013, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED590855.pdf) Arrival into the juvenile court system may aggravate youths’ existing mental health problems for multiple reasons. For one, there is inconsistency across some of the decision points of the juvenile justice system. Some examples include the residential facilities, providing referrals to treatment and appropriately screening, assessing, and treating juveniles with mental health conditions. All of these are not consistent and change depending on the case. There are also the difficulties that many juveniles face when detained or incarcerated. For instance, the increased odds of falling back once 15
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youths are involved in the justice system and the perceived barriers to services that can prevent youths from seeking or receiving treatment. Among youths involved in the juvenile justice system (including those who have been referred to court or those who have been adjudicated and placed in a residential facility), only a small percentage of those in need of services can access treatment, making the ability to actually rehabilitate the juveniles very difficult. It is important for youths to Sources: California Endowment, “Promising Practices from the Healthy Returns Initiative: Building Connections to Health, Mental Health, and Family Support Services in Juvenile Justice” (Los Angeles, CA: California Endowment, May 2010), http://bit.ly/1oSONgy. Models for Change, “Improving and Coordinating Access to Mental Health Services for Youth in Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice System” (Chicago, IL: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, April 2007), http://bit.ly/YIqPeA; Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators, “Comprehensive Systems Change Initiative (CSCI) Briefing Paper” (Braintree, MA: April 2012), http://bit.ly/1tXVqjW. https://jjie.org/hub/mental-health-and-substance-abuse/ https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/mpg/literature-review/mental-health-juvenile-justice-system.pdf
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Access to Education in the Juvenile Justice System Written by Grace Yu-Phelps-Newton Country Day School and Celine Min-Forest Ridge Access to education in the juvenile justice system is crucial yet oftentimes it is neglected. Even when education is available it is not always the best which leads to children who have been in the juvenile justice system often lacking the ability to be successful in adulthood. Growing up in New York, Jeremy Taveras did fine academically but often misbehaved in school. He was later fined for graffiti activity and arrested for assault, gang, and theft-related activity. This landed him in the Martin de Porres, a group home. Jeremy had a different experience than most people do when arrested. Over the course of Jeremy’s 18 months at Martin de Porres, he built a relationship with the staff, which led him to improve his behavior. He continued his education in class with other kids his grade and age at Martin de Porres. This experience made it possible for Jeremy to live a happy and successful life, all because some people gave him the chance. Prior to being charged with six felonies and sent to jail in Florida, 16-year-old Alyssa Beck enjoyed learning. In the detention center, Alyssa gained her education by teachers passing worksheets that were appropriate for middle schoolers, under the cell door, which led to a room the size of a parking spot, that she was confined to. When she had questions she would crouch so she could speak through the flap in the cell door. Not only did her previous mistakes in life set her back but also the fact that she was undereducated made it harder for Alyssa to bounce back from her past. In correction centers, where juveniles do not have to be in solitary confinement, it is very different. The students are in classes based on age, and the class sizes are very large to accommodate all students. But, there are some major drawbacks. In science classes, much of the science equipment is banned because of the possibility of it being used as a weapon. An analysis by a Connecticut Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee found that the education was “fragmented and expensive” and “lacking quality
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standards, monitoring, accountability, specialization, and expertise”. It was also noted that the system “let youths slip during transitions”. The National Center on Educational, Disability and Juvenile Justice stated that juvenile education programs should include “literacy and functional skills for students with significant cognitive, behavioral, or learning problems; academic courses associated with Carnegie unit credits for students likely to return to public schools or who may earn a diploma while incarcerated; general Educational Development (GED) preparation for students not likely to return to public schools; pre-vocational and vocational education related to student interests and meaningful employment opportunities in the community”. In addition, 6 out of 10 students who attend school at a juvenile facility don’t enroll after release. Though some people may have access to educational programs, not all enroll and not all pass. Only 61% of incarcerated students in algebra 1 will pass, whereas 95% will pass in public schools. Therefore, it is crucial for juvenile justice systems to provide a proper education for young people to lead a more successful future outside the system.
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Juvenile Justice Summer Research Project 2021
Sources Restorative Justice Presentation Materials: ● Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation PowerPoint and Presentation by Nick Schafer https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Jjsz5ZdbG_NDZCGcSW85qb9DPBed-gMv/edit?rtpof=true ● Overview on Juvenile Justice PowerPoint and Presentation by Elizabeth Clarke https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1T2zgNSxngVMnwaFC9cRRMw792ULtOQcC/edit#slide=id.p 34 ● Juvenile Justice Initiative Emails provided by Elizabeth Clarke https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kgUr7K_2rFlUSvj-3WbWPhL6BEoDX9zNiD2rnJ9Hris/edit ● Story shared by Jane Steinfels Sites: ● http://restorativejustice.org/restorative-justice/about-restorative-justice/tutorial-intro-to-restor ative-justice/lesson-1-what-is-restorative-justice/#sthash.eSAZxYZe.dpb ● https://globalpeacecareers.com/magazine/examples-of-restorative-justice/ ● https://www.iirp.edu/defining-restorative/restorative-justice-typology ● https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/8/7/21357874/restorative-courts-expanding-chicago-tim-ev ans-cook-county-justice-system ● https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34571936 ● https://rjhubs.org/ ● https://restorecal.org/victims-needs/#:~:text=A%202008%20Human%20Rights%20Watch,victi m%2C%20regardless%20of%20whether%20a ● https://www.sdrjmp.org/stories/ ● https://www.iirp.edu/defining-restorative/restorative-justice-typology School to prison pipeline Images from “School to Prison Pipeline” by: Rachael Marie-Crane Williams https://project-nia.org/ https://chicagofreedomschool.org/ https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/spring-2013/the-school-to-prison-pipeline https://infogram.com/_/IYB5YYXkEc9bkLhnPq5X https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6185240ac3b346268cabe50770ec62f3 https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/02/03/ending-school-to-prison-pipline/ https://www.npr.org/2020/06/23/881608999/why-theres-a-push-to-get-police-out-of-schools https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cge.pdf https://www.edweek.org/which-students-are-arrested-most-in-school-u-s-data-by-school https://project-nia.org/uploads/documents/Research-Reports/policing-chicago-public-schools-a-gatewa y.pdf https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-04-10/how-kicking-trash-can-became-criminal-6th-grader 19
Juvenile Justice Summer Research Project 2021
Access to Education in the Juvenile Justice System
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2019/05/07/juvenile-detention-faciliti es-dont-educate-they-imprison/3541122002/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/juvenile-solitary-confinement/548933/ https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-how-does-education-in-the-juvenile-justice-systemmeasure-up-it-doesnt/2018/10 https://www.southerneducation.org/publications/justlearning/ http://www.edjj.org/focus/education/ https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/correctional-education/index.html https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/incarcerated-youth-deserve-quality-education-and-many-dontget-one Impact of Poverty on Incarceration/Crimes of Poverty: http://www.raisingofamerica.org/9-ways-reduce-poverty https://www.un.org/development/desa/socialperspectiveondevelopment/issues/employment-anddecent-work.html https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-01-17/pdf/2020-00858.pdf https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/best-states/minimum-wage-by-state#:~:text=Excluding% 20Washington%2C%20D.C.'s%20%2415,and%20%2413.50%20per%20hour%2C%20respective ly. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice/reports/2020/03/16/481543/ending-cas h-bail/ https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/community-organizations-have-import ant-role-lowering-crime-rates https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/incarceration-and-poverty-in-the-united-states/ http://economics.fundamentalfinance.com/povertycrime.php https://vittana.org/how-poverty-influences-crime-rate https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/gangs-opposing-viewpoints https://www.prisonpolicy.org/ http://criticalresistance.org/about/not-so-common-language/ https://harvardprisondivest.org/one-percent-disclosed-three-million-invested-in-prisons/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/20/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/ https://www.statista.com/chart/3501/the-countries-with-the-best-minimum-wages/
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