Have you ever eaten green chicken? Taken cold showers with other people and been locked in a cell 16 hours a day? That was just part of the horror for Ali N., 15 years old and serving time in juvenile hall. He had been running with the wrong crowd and got arrested and sentenced to probation at home. Rather than changing his behavior, he cut off his ankle monitor and went back to getting into trouble. He was re-arrested and had to serve several months in juvenile hall. “It was just horrible,...

#MomsAgainstTorture is a movement led by Gina Burns, Cheryl Canson and other mothers of vulnerable Californians who were incarcerated even though they were not restored to competence after being deemed incompetent to stand trial. In this conversation, they share the purpose and aims of their movement. Amanda Nguyen: How did you get started in this work? Gina Burns and Cheryl Canson: As a matter of survival. The impacted Black and Indigenous moms who founded #MomsAgainstTorture have been...

A new resource looks at the preva­lence of trau­ma among youth in the juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem and out­lines ways to pro­tect their men­tal and emo­tion­al well-being. The fact sheet , pro­duced by the Amer­i­can Acad­e­my of Pedi­atrics (AAP), is part of a grow­ing call from child and ado­les­cent health experts to reform long­stand­ing juve­nile jus­tice poli­cies and practices. “Efforts aimed at improv­ing our juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem must extend beyond issues relat­ed to youth arrest...

Child Trends , in partnership with Chapin Hall and Healthy Teen Network , will develop and disseminate research-based practice resources for professionals who work with youth through Activate: The Collective to Bring Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Research to Youth-Supporting Professionals (Activate). Activate is funded through a grant from the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . Activate aims to bridge the gap between research...

The United States incarcerates an alarming number of children and adolescents every year. Disproportionately, they are youth of color. Given the short- and long-term damages stemming from youth out of home placement, it is vital to understand its true scope. In 2019, there were more than 240,000 instances of a young person detained, committed, or both in the juvenile justice system. However, youth incarceration is typically measured via a one-day count taken in late October. This metric...

Applications due April 8, 2022 at 11:59 pm. Click HERE for the application. The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University, in partnership with the Center for Children’s Law and Policy (CCLP), the Justice Policy Institute (JPI), the Council of Juvenile Justice Administrators (CJJA), and Arnold Ventures, is pleased to announce a request for applications for the Ending Isolation in Youth Facilities Certificate Program. This will be the second time we are offering this...

By Julie Reynolds Martinez and Jeremy Loudenback, Photo: Josie Lepe, The Imprint, March 9, 2022 Katherine Lucero — a daughter of farmworkers and longtime juvenile court judge who calls for compassion and support rather than jail and foster care — is now leading the most populous state toward a once-unimaginable goal: a future without youth prisons. In a historic shift aimed at reversing decades of poor outcomes for youth offenders and public safety, California is closing its Division of...

Chronic stress, trauma exposure, frequent threats of violence and the relentless grind of gun crimes’ impact: A recently-released report from the University of Illinois Chicago reveals in stark terms the strain and struggles that many frontline violence prevention workers face as they try to combat gun violence. In 2022, Chicago is coming off another record year of homicides, similar to many other major cities across the U.S. 797 people were killed in 2021 with 3,677 non-fatal shootings—an...

From Equal Justice Initiative, February 4, 2022 The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that imposing a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years on a child is unconstitutional. People sentenced when they were children are now entitled to have their sentences reviewed after 20 years. The court’s decision, issued in January, combined two cases in which children were sentenced under a New Jersey statute that required them to serve a minimum of 30 years without any chance for parole. James Comer...

In collaboration with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Child Focus, Child Trends has developed the STRENGTH principles to serve youth in the child welfare and justice systems in positive, developmentally appropriate ways. The principles help systems that serve children and young adults apply Positive Youth Development approaches, focus on equity and inclusion, and involve communities and families. More information is available here: Integrating Positive Youth Development and Racial Equity,...

By JJIE Staff, Photo: Richard Oldroyd/Shutterstock, Juvenile Justice Information Exchage, January 26, 2022 Death rates were 5.9 times higher for previously incarcerated 11- to 21-year-olds in Ohio than in that state’s general population of youth enrolled in Medicaid health insurance for low-income people, according to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s JAMA Open Network. In a finding researchers said was especially startling, formerly incarcerated...

Intro to Trauma Informed Care is for YOU! Designed to help you implement a trauma-informed approach throughout your organization, this live webinar provides an introductory understanding, and will equip you with tools you can use right away.