The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/juvenile-justice/)
An Urban Institute study of Kentucky’s landmark youth justice reform law passed in 2014 found that nearly nine out of 10 youth completed diversion programs and avoided formal court involvement. Nevertheless, race and ethnic disparities in the diversion programs were “significant and persisted,” and recidivism rates didn’t statistically change.
The number of Latinx youth in juvenile detention centers across America is severely underestimated and, in some cases, ignored — leading to “misguided policies and a lack of resources to support that population,” according to a report released Tuesday by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative and Alianza for Youth Justice.
It costs over $200,000 annually to lock up just one young person, but jailing a youth actually increases the likelihood of later recidivism by nearly a quarter. Two researchers at the Justice Policy Institute argue it’s long past time for states to follow through on mounting calls to replace youth prisons with community-centered programs.
Stationing uniformed police as ‘School Resource Officers’ in schools worsens the ‘school to prison pipeline’ by criminalizing student behavior that could otherwise be handled by internal school discipline, according to a study published in Criminology & Public Policy.
The state will move detainees to smaller, community-based residential centers and increase investments in social services. Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the current system is built on “an antiquated theory of juvenile incarceration.”
The Michigan Court of Appeals released a teenager who had been in custody since May for skipping coursework after her school adopted remote learning during the pandemic.
More than 40 youth correctional administrators joined prosecutors from over 30 jurisdictions in a call for the closure of youth detention facilities across the country. A report accompanying their statement Thursday said the over-incarceration of young people increases their likelihood of recidivism, damages their health, and stunts their ability to find employment.
A Michigan judge denied a motion to release a teenager who has been held at a juvenile facility since mid-May for violating probation after not doing her online schoolwork, saying the girl will benefit from ongoing treatment.
A new report warns that secret surveillance of social media channels used by young people frequently leads to abuses. One example: the gang database in New York City, based in part on information obtained from social media, can mistakenly identify individuals as gang members without their knowledge.
The nation cannot fulfill the provisions contained in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act related to youth incarceration without addressing the racial and ethnic disparities at every decision point in the justice system, write the co-chairs of the Act 4 Juvenile Justice Coalition.