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Juvenile Justice News as of Feb 05, 2012
More juveniles in Santa Cruz County tried as adults than state average
Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:21:02 - Pacific Time
Santa Cruz County is more likely than most counties in the state to try juvenile offenders as adults for serious crimes, a new study shows. A study authored by the nonpartisan, San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, describes “wild” disparities between California counties when it comes to prosecutors filing to try minors in adult courts. Titled “An analysis of direct adult criminal court filing 2003-2009: What has been the effect of Proposition 21?” the paper suggests that some counties use direct filing more than others based on prosecutorial discretion.Proposition 21, passed by voters in 2000, allows prosecutors to “direct file” certain juvenile felony cases in adult court without having to review them first with a judge. The usual reason for direct adult filing is to secure a potentially longer sentence, because youths sentenced in juvenile court typically can only be imprisoned until they are 25. From 2003 through 2009, California prosecutors filed 4,045 youth cases in adult criminal court, the report says. During that time, for every 1,000 youths whose charges qualified for possible adult trials, the state average was 25.4 per thousand. Santa Cruz County had a higher-than-average rate of using the practice with 31.4 filed per 1,000 cases, the report stated. San Francisco County had the lowest rate, with an average of 1.5 per thousand. Ventura County had the highest rate with 122.1 per thousand. "We use direct filings for the most serious offenders," said Bob Lee, the Santa Cruz County district attorney. Juveniles accused of murder and other serious acts of violence would meet that criteria, though Lee said he looks at all cases before they are direct-filed. Lee said he considers the offender’s age and the severity of the crime. "We try to protect the community from people who have demonstrated a callous disregard for human life," Lee said. The year Proposition 21 passed in 2002, it was billed as a way to reign in youth gang violence. But the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice’s report says the law’s application has had no effect on youth crime rates. "Prosecutor predilection towards direct adult criminal court filing is not founded upon any demonstrable effect of reducing juvenile crime rates," the report states. Youth crime has declined statewide, but the analysis found that the 30 counties using direct filing at higher-than-average rates actually saw less of a reduction in youth crimes during the seven years studied than the 28 counties that used it at lower-than-average rates. That discovery, along with "radically different" practices among counties "is disturbing," the authors state. "This practice has not proven successful." Read More...
States Closing Youth Prisons as Arrests Plunge
Wed, 9 Jun 2010 06:13:10 - Pacific Time
After struggling for years to treat young criminals in razor wire-ringed institutions, states across the country are quietly shuttering dozens of reformatories amid plunging juvenile arrests, softer treatment policies and bleak budgets. In Ohio, the number of juvenile offenders has plummeted by nearly half over the last two years, pushing the state to close three facilities. California's closures include a youth institution near Los Angeles that operated for nearly 115 years. And one in Texas will finally go quiet after getting its start as a World War II-era training base. The closures have juvenile advocates cheering. "I can tell you it's the best thing they can do," said Aaron Kupchik, a University of Delaware criminologist. "Incarceration does nobody any good. You're taking away most of their chance for normal development." Several factors have pushed states to close facilities. In stark contrast to the growing adult prison population, the number of juveniles in state lockups has dropped dramatically, partly because there are fewer juvenile arrests and more offenders in county-based treatment programs. States grappling with busted budgets can't afford to operate facilities with so many empty beds. State reformatories are typically reserved for serious criminals, such as sex offenders and other violent offenders. Unlike the punishment-oriented adult system, juvenile justice focuses on rehabilitation. During the early 1990s, though, tough-on-crime legislators turned to the juvenile system. Nearly every state lowered the minimum age for kids to be tried as adults or increased the kind of crimes that land kids in the adult system. But juvenile arrest rates dropped, falling 33 percent between 1997 and 2008, according to the latest U.S. Justice Department data.Criminologists aren't sure why fewer kids are getting in trouble. Some believe more kids are avoiding drug trafficking. Others think programs such as group homes, halfway houses and after-school tutoring closer to kids' homes have reduced recidivism. "No fancy stats suggest this is a cure-all, but what I think you do see is the accumulation of those small results of people doing this increasingly in cities and towns all across the country," said Elliot Currie, a University of California-Irvine criminologist.Those reforms have gained momentum as studies found teens sent to adult court often got in worse trouble after they were released and lawsuits emerged over poor conditions at state lockups. Many states have tweaked their juvenile polices so only the most serious offenders land in their systems. "We're locking up the right kids," said Bart Lubow, program director for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which helps fund such juvenile offender programs. "It's about making smarter decisions." As a result, the number of juveniles in state institutions has dropped. According to the Justice Department, the number of juvenile offenders declined 26 percent between 2000 and 2008, from about 109,000 to 80,000. All the empty beds offer states struggling with budget deficits a way to save money — downsize juvenile justice systems. The number of kids in state residential custody in California peaked at 10,000 in 1996 but now stands at 1,500, said state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Bill Sessa. The state has closed six institutions since 2003, most notably the Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility, which had operated just outside Los Angeles since 1890. State officials keep the institution clean for film crews; the paranormal research television series "The Othersiders" investigated reports of bangs and voices there in an episode last year. The closings have generated as much as $40 million in savings for the state's juvenile justice department through job reductions, Sessa said. Read More...
Report On "Kids For Cash" Juvenile Justice Scandal
Tue, 1 Jun 2010 07:51:09 - Pacific Time
In a harsh and devastating report, a commission set up to investigate the "kids for cash" scandal in Pennsylvania's Luzerne County issued far-reaching recommendations Thursday aimed at overhauling the state's juvenile justice system. More than half of its 66-page report recounts how the scandal unfolded, drawing on testimony and court transcripts to show the suffering of thousands of young victims and their families. "We had judges who if they weren't criminal they were incompetent. We had defense lawyers who didn't perform their functions. We had prosecutors who stood by. ... We had a community that at least at some level was aware of what was going on," commission Chairman John M. Cleland said at a news conference Thursday. The 11-member commission was created as a result of a federal corruption probe that led to charges against two Luzerne County judges accused of receiving more than $2.8 million in payoffs from the operators of two juvenile detention centers. The report by the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice outlines 43 recommendations aimed at restoring public confidence and preventing a similar scandal in the future. The recommendations would affect everyone who touches the juvenile justice system, from judges to defendants. Gov. Ed Rendell and Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille said they had not yet reviewed the report and could not comment. House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, a Democrat from Luzerne County, said he would propose legislation to address some of the recommendations, specifically the one related to the lack of access by juveniles to counsel. "No one in Pennsylvania should be denied legal representation, least of all children, and we need to do everything possible to ensure juvenile defendants are truly provided the same rights to legal counsel as anyone else in this country," said Eachus in a statement. The report described as "Dickensian" the role of former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., who ordered children as young as 11 to jail for failure to pay fines, "effectively using the county detention center as a debtor's prison for children." More than half the juveniles who appeared in Ciavarella's courtroom between 2003 and 2008 did so without counsel, the report said. Witnesses told the commission that Ciavarella had pressured defendants into waiving their right to counsel and even had a table set up outside his courtroom with waiver forms to sign. The report concluded that many defense attorneys who had appeared before Ciavarella "clearly abdicated their responsibilities" to defend their clients and "protect their due process rights." Read More...
New Report Highlights Strategies to Improve California's Juvenile Justice System
Thu, 27 May 2010 10:34:15 - Pacific Time
The California Endowment issued a report today highlighting the results of a four year initiative created to strengthen the capacity of county juvenile justice systems to provide mental health and other needed services for youth while in custody and in the community. Promising Practices from the Healthy Returns Initiative: Building Connections to Health, Mental Health, and Family Support Services in Juvenile Justice outlines collaborative strategies implemented by probation departments in Humboldt, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and Ventura counties that improved outcomes for youth and their families. "The Healthy Returns Initiative brought together governmental agencies, community partners, and private providers to develop sustainable practices that address the myriad of issues these youth often face - substance use, lack of comprehensive physical and dental health care, untreated mental health problems, limited educational and employment opportunities, and family stress," explained Laura Garnette, Santa Cruz County probation director. The Healthy Returns Initiative was developed by The California Endowment to address the alarming trend of youth with unaddressed mental and physical health issues entering and languishing in California's juvenile justice system. Approximately 50 percent of youth detained at the county-level in California have a suspected or diagnosed mental illness and 75 percent have a substance abuse disorder. At the same time, county-level juvenile justice programs face numerous challenges in effectively providing services and treatment. State and local budget cuts have severely reduced counties' ability to meet the needs of probation youth in detention and in the community. Almost two thirds of probation departments report insufficient staff to handle the number and severity of mental health issues in their systems. They are hindered by a lack of appropriate placement options for youth with severe mental illness and have limited access to community-based services for youth with less severe mental health and substance abuse disorders. Due to lack of funding, 30 of 45 counties report the lack of an appropriate selection of services in terms of type, quality, or capacity available for mental health issues. These inadequacies contribute to longer and more costly stays in detention facilities and the ineffective use of probation resources. "The results of this initiative show that there are some simple, common sense practices that can be implemented to ensure that youth with mental health and other critical issues are identified and receive appropriate services," said Barbara Raymond, program director with The California Endowment. "In this time of diminished resources, it is critical that county agencies and community-based providers work together to develop and implement smarter, collaborative, and more responsive models of care." By implementing the promising practices highlighted in the newly released report, the Healthy Returns Initiative accomplished a range of positive outcomes for youth and their families. Read More...
U.S. Supreme Court rejects life sentences for some youths
Tue, 18 May 2010 08:44:48 - Pacific Time
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that juveniles who commit crimes in which no one is killed may not be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Five justices, in an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy, agreed that the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment forbids such sentences as a categorical matter. The case, which attracted nationwide attention because of a trend toward increasingly strict punishment for juveniles who commit violent crime, could reverberate in Silicon Valley. Four defendants, including three teenage boys, are currently being tried as adults in Santa Clara County for an attack last Halloween on a pair of young trick-or-treaters. The attempted murder charges against them still could result in life sentences, but the Supreme Court ruling ensures the juvenile defendants will have a shot at parole if convicted. "A state need not guarantee the offender eventual release," Kennedy wrote, "but if it imposes the sentence of life, it must provide him or her with some realistic opportunity to obtain release before the end of that term." The ruling marked the first time that the court excluded an entire class of offenders from a given form of punishment outside the context of the death penalty. —‰'Death is different' no longer," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in dissent. Life sentences with no chance of parole are rare for juveniles tried as adults and convicted of crimes less serious than killing. California is one of only a few states that had permitted sentences of life without parole for juveniles convicted of non-homicides, but as of November 2009, there were only four such inmates in the state's prisons, according to state Department of Corrections figures. Overall, there are more than 260 inmates who were juveniles serving life-without-parole sentences in California, including those convicted of murder, and four of them are from Santa Clara County. Read More...
Prostitution is the leading reason for girls' involvement in the juvenile justice system.
Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:18:48 - Pacific Time
Unfortunately, in both urban and rural regions of the nation, American-born girls are being trafficked and sold. An estimated 100,000-300,000 American children are at risk for becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation. According to the Department of Justice, the average age of a prostituted girl in the U.S. is 12-14 years. These sexually exploited girls are routinely raped, beaten into submission, and even tattooed like cattle by their pimps. This is a new and emerging phenomenon. Ten years ago, there were not the same disturbing stories of traffickers seeking out and preying on girl runaways within 48 hours after they have left home. Or very young girls in rural and suburban communities being kidnapped and then sold to men for sex. In the last decade, there is even a lingo that has developed of "domestic trafficking hubs," where Ohio and Georgia are considered among the top states for the selling and purchasing of American girls. Why is this happening? There is the Internet, which has created an easy and accessible venue for the commercial sexual exploitation of children. As a result, young girls are the new commodities that traffickers and gangs are selling. And, there isn't a culture of crime and punishment for selling girls as there is for selling illegal drugs. It is less risky, and more profitable (the girls are "reusable"), to traffic girls, instead of meth or crack. Perversely, it is the girls -- and not the men -- who end up being criminalized. Prostitution is the leading reason for girls' involvement in the juvenile justice system. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, citing the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention statistics on juvenile arrests, reports that 63% of girls in detention are there for prostitution. Girls are put behind bars for being raped and sexually exploited by pimps and the men who purchase them for the night. Read More...
Juvenile Justice Group Report Touts and Explains "Positive Youth Development" or PYD Approach.
Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:43:04 - Pacific Time
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice has issued a report calling for the use of "Positive Youth Development" approaches in juvenile justice. The authors Jeff Butts of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Gordon Bazemore of Florida Atlantic University and Aundra Saa Meroe a senior researcher with Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago argue that treating young offenders purely as villains, who are in need of punishment, is pointless from the perspective of improving their chances to be productive citizens. Treating them purely as victims in need of treatment does not entirely prepare them to be productive adults either. Positive Youth Development approaches, say the authors, have the best chance to accomplish what most juveniles need: building on their strengths and connecting them to the community they live in. The concepts and principles of Positive Youth Development (PYD) offer valuable guidance for the design of interventions for youthful offenders. Unfortunately, few programs draw on PYD principles. The most common approaches to PYD presume that young people possess conventional attitudes and a ready willingness to cooperate with pro-social peers and adults. These are not qualities that one finds in abundance among youth involved with the juvenile court and the larger juvenile justice system. Almost by definition, court-involved youth have a greater inclination than do other youth to violate rules, disregard convention and defy authority. A positive youth development framework for these youth would have to be different from a framework designed for more conventional or normative youth. The premise of this report is that PYD could, and should be adapted for justice-involved youth. In fact, PYD might be well suited as a principal theory of habilitation and rehabilitation for young offenders. The Positive Youth Justice Model (Model) includes 12 key components depicted as a 2 by 6 matrix. Each cell in the matrix represents the interaction of two key assets needed by all youth: (1) learning/doing, and (2) attaching/belonging. Each asset should be developed within the context of six separate life domains (work, education, relationships, community, health, and creativity). Read More...
Getting the state out of juvenile justice
Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:42:33 - Pacific Time
With California in the midst of the worst fiscal crisis in 80 years, most of us expect elected officials to be scouring the state budget for ways to cut all unnecessary spending. Few areas of state government are more suitable for elimination than the five state-run youth correctional facilities that comprise the old California Youth Authority, now called the Division of Juvenile Justice. Yet despite recent reports by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, the Little Hoover Commission and the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice calling for the system's closure and the reallocation of its $322.7 million budget to other spending priorities, the state Legislature has taken no action. Maintaining the five facilities is a waste of precious resources. Because the system is the subject of a lawsuit brought by the nonprofit Prison Law Office over the horrific conditions within the state's youth correctional facilities and the consent decree that resulted from it, the state spends an average of $228,715 a year for each of the 1,400 youths in its custody. Acknowledging the system's failures, the Schwarzenegger administration agreed to try to restructure it by changing the management organization, reducing the institutional population and infusing it with more resources for rehabilitation. In spite of this enormous expense, there is little evidence that youths are being well served. Those committed to these state-run facilities enter a world in which gang membership is considered necessary for survival. Those who are not gang-affiliated when they enter the system become gang members soon after arrival to avoid isolation and exploitation. The deplorable conditions led one team of neutral court-appointed correctional experts to conclude in March 2006 that the system "is broken almost everywhere you look." Read More...
Santa Clara County considers barring the practice of jailing very young children
Fri, 9 Apr 2010 08:09:21 - Pacific Time
The presiding judge of Santa Clara County's Superior Court has hailed a recommendation to stop detaining children ages 12 and younger in the juvenile hall, calling a recent report condemning the practice "very sound." "We have a problem," Judge Jamie Jacobs-May told the county's public safety and justice committee Thursday. "It's not large, but it's very important. I think we all want the same thing, and that is to keep kids this young out of the hall." The Board of Supervisors, social services leaders and the county's top law enforcement officials are now weighing a recommendation by the Juvenile Justice Commission, which examined the cases of 30 very young children held in custody between 2007 and 2009. The court-appointed citizens commission found that in almost all of the cases, the children had diagnosed mental illnesses and parents who were dead or gone. Most had been kicked out of school, spent time in foster care and suffered from drug and alcohol addictions. One boy had been sexually abused by his father at age 23 months. In all cases, the commission found, incarceration served neither the children nor the interests of public safety. Commissioners, including a former prosecutor and a youth advocate, are now examining alternatives to the 390-bed juvenile hall, which houses older teens. According to the probation department, five more children 12 and younger have been detained since July, including one boy who violated his terms of probation after being caught with a red iPod; red is a gang-associated color. Citing research, juvenile justice commissioners have cautioned that locking up very young children only worsens their conditions - and should be avoided in favor of home-based care with intensive services. The recommendation follows the jailing last year of a sibling group in foster care, ages 10, 11 and 12. In another case, a severely mentally ill boy jailed just days after his 11th birthday has spent most of two years in the juvenile hall. County supervisors and local judges now await more investigation by the Juvenile Justice Commission, which is determining the number of available placement alternatives. Commissioners say they are desperately needed. "It surprised all of us as we read the files, the trauma that these kids have experienced," said Nora Manchester, a longtime juvenile justice commissioner. "We need something more than just emergency options, and we're going to have to be creative," she added. "Because once we get them into the system, we can't get them out." Read More...
News Archive
For Juveniles in NY Family Court, Judges Seek Safer Alternatives to Prison: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 08:06:20 - Pacific Time: Read More...
LA County probation workers going unpunished: Thu, 4 Mar 2010 05:27:20 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Records reveal problems in L.A. County juvenile probation office: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:24:15 - Pacific Time: Read More...
County opens blinds on juvenile detention: Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:23:05 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Throw-Away Children: Juvenile Justice in Collapse: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:56:09 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Troubled teens, canines help each other: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 07:06:57 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Lines of justice blurred with pens, mugs and tee shots: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 07:13:12 - Pacific Time: Read More...
JDAI - Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:00:40 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Conference Highlights Juvenile Justice Models for Change: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 08:33:00 - Pacific Time: Read More...
States Giving Juvenile Justice Responsibility To Counties: Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:40:17 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Juveniles become prey: Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:36:25 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services Has Major Challenges: Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:56:05 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Culture of Violence' Plagues New York's Juvenile Prisons: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:17:09 - Pacific Time: Read More...
12 Percent of Adjudicated Youth Report Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 08:06:12 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Treatment of Youths in New York Prisons Spurs Suit: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:26:38 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Teenagers Use Violence to Boost Their Social Standing: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:40:56 - Pacific Time: Read More...
New York Can Do Better By Juvenile Offenders: Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:37:45 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Senate Judiciary Panel Advances Juvenile Justice Bill: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:22:39 - Pacific Time: Read More...
De-Criminalizing Children: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:02:47 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Justice Department Bulletin Details Declining Juvenile Arrests in 2008: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:41:10 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Sensible fixes to youth crime and delinquency policies: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:37:15 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Youth Advocates "Ticked Off" At Obama For Juvenile Justice Vacancy: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:21:21 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Reform school threw parties for judges, probation officials: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 07:36:12 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Justice for Virginia juveniles: Sun, 6 Dec 2009 12:52:21 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Task force outlines plan for transforming juvenile justice: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 04:20:36 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Juvenile justice group sues judges: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 05:31:34 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Breaking the cycle of youth crime: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:58:57 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Juvenile justice: Making it better: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:50:56 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Imprisoning children for life is not justice: Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:27:46 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Suit claims abuse, filth at juvenile detention center: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:46:24 - Pacific Time: Read More...
Santa Clara County poised to cut juvenile prevention programs: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:45:45 - Pacific Time: Read More...
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