The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/juvenile-justice/)
In rural New York, youth advocates and authorities have found a more age-appropriate way to house older justice-involved youths who are no longer subject to the adult justice system.
Two co-founders of the “Young Men Emerging” program at the Washington DC jail say their innovative community-building approach helps individuals aged 18-25 escape becoming ensnared in the justice system.
The new facility should feel “more like a school or a wellness center rather than a jail or a prison”, said city supervisor Hillary Ronen, a sponsor of the legislation. The push to shut down the city’s juvenile detention center came as youth crime and juvenile felony arrests dropped throughout the state.
In several California counties, courts are keeping young people behind bars even when risk assessment tools suggest they can be released. A former public defender argues this illustrates a worrying tendency to put the system’s fears of making an embarrassing mistake ahead of the needs of justice-involved youth.
A recent report found that 43 percent of boys and 34 percent of girls in juvenile facilities are African American, although blacks make up just 14 percent of all youths under 18 in the U.S. In California, lawmakers and youth advocates are working to address the disparities with diversion programs, rehabilitative care and legislative policy changes.
Public defender caseloads for juveniles have started to shrink in some large Texas counties after a 2016 study recommended changes. But some lawyers are still dealing with an “outrageous amount” of cases, say legal experts.
Faced with a troubling spike in New Orleans juvenile crime, city officials and judges announced plans Wednesday to detain all young people who commit serious crimes and a summer jobs program for youths who have been arrested. Critics said the crackdown may do more harm than good.
The Memorial Day weekend incident — in which six were arrested for destruction of property and disorderly conduct — marks at least the fourth time since last summer a large group of youths has been implicated in rowdy, public behavior. Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young calls it a “parenting question.”
The policy, starting June 1, would affect hundreds of teens accused of serious crimes like assault, robbery, and burglary, allowing them to be eligible for release without bail, while they await adjudication.
Officers in Los Angeles County teem detention centers argue that their workplaces are becoming more violent, and data back that up. Internal reports and photographs show how dangerous and dysfunctional the county’s youth detention operation has become.