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Indiana: An Assessment of Access to Counsel & Quality of Representation in Delinquency Proceedings
The National Juvenile Defender Center and the Central Juvenile Defender Center today released this report that found that Indiana’s system for ensuring constitutionally required defense services for children in the juvenile justice system is seriously flawed. The report says that nearly half of the 26,000 youths in juvenile cases are not represented by counsel, with the rate as high as 80 percent in some counties. Among the report’s recommendations: State laws should prohibit children from waiving counsel or, at least, require children to consult with counsel before doing so.
Juvenile courts should ensure that judges thoroughly inform and education children about their rights, that no child goes unrepresented at any critical state of proceedings and that indigent counsel be independent of the judiciary.
Caseloads and resources at the county level should be manageable enough to allow defenders to properly investigate and prepare cases from arrest through appeal.
Attorneys representing children in the juvenile justice system should have adequate physical resources, litigation support services and access to experts.
The full report, an 83 page pdf file is downloadable from the National Juvenile Defender Center web site at the link above.
Read an article from The Indianapolis Star about the report.
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Spring 2006 Issue of THE LINK
The lead article of this issue of CWLA’s newsletter that connects delinquency and abuse and neglect is “The Legal Rights of Young People in State Custody: What Juvenile Justice Professionals Need to Know When Working with LGBT Youth.” The article identifies a series of rights of LGBT kids in the juvenile justice system: The right to safe conditions of confinement; the right to mental and physical health care; and the right not to be placed in conditions that amount to punishment. In the same issue see “Adolescents, Maturity, and the Law: Why Science and Development Matter in Juvenile Justice,” an article by Jeffrey Fagan examining juvenile crime, how it is perceived by the juvenile justice system, and the mismatch between juvenile maturation and culpability. ++++++++++ Rethinking the Juvenile in Juvenile Justice: Implications of Adolescent Brain Development on the Juvenile Justice System
The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families has released this publication about the intersection between brain research and juvenile justice and it is excellent! You can download the full text (24 page pdf file) or a single-page executive summary at the link above. Take the time to look at this one. It’s worth it. ++++++++++ Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report
This report is published every five years for the Department of Justice by the National Center for Juvenile Justice, the research branch of NCJFCJ ,and was released by Assistant Attorney General Regina Schofield at our conference in Denver last week. The report draws on reliable data and research to provide a comprehensive and insightful view of juvenile crime and the justice system’s response. While readers of the series will find familiar content in the report’s updated information, there is also new information. Click here to read more.
Click here to download Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report either by chapter or has a whole.
Click here to order from a limited number of printed copies. To do this, search by document number (NJC 212906). ++++++++++ The Cost of Being a Criminal
The New York Times reports on the fees associated with almost every encounter with the criminal justice system. The fees are intended to help offset some of the enormous costs of operating the criminal justice system, but can be devastating for people who emerge from prison with no money, credit or prospects, and who live in fear of being sent back for failing to pay. ( This article will be available to read online free for one more day. If you want to read it and you're too late, get in touch with me and I'll send you a hard copy from my files.) ++++++++++ How the Justice System Responds to Juvenile Victims: A Comprehensive Model
This Juvenile Justice Bulletin identifies the major elements of the juvenile victim justice system by delineating how cases move through the system. It reviews each step in the case flow process for the child protection and criminal justice systems and describes the interaction of the agencies and individuals involved. 12 page pdf file. ++++++++++ Focusing Juvenile Justice on Positive Youth Development
This Issue Brief from Chapin Hall examines how juvenile justice agencies might draw from the growing body of evidence on positive youth development to improve services for youthful offenders. 9 page pdf file. ++++++++++ Keystones for Reform: Promising Juvenile Justice Policies and practices in Pennsylvania – Executive Summary This is the first report of Models for Change: Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice, an initiative supported by the MacArthur Foundation. It describes a number of promising juvenile justice policies and practice in Pennsylvania that provide a sold base for further reform efforts. Contents include description of the role of the Juvenile Court Judges Commission in the state, a community intensive supervision program, use of the MAYSI-2 in secure juvenile detention, 54 page pdf file. ++++++++++
Collaboration – A Training Curriculum and Other Materials
The Collaborative Justice Resource Center has two publications available to read or download. Collaboration: A Training Curriculum to Enhance the Effectiveness of Criminal Justice Teams - Designed especially for those working in the criminal and juvenile justice systems whose work increasingly requires cross-disciplinary interaction. The Emergence of Collaboration as the preferred Approach in Criminal Justice – Addresses the utility of a collaborative approach within the criminal justice system. How to Collaborate - a dandy four-page description of collaboration and teamwork. ++++++++++
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency FAQs
A good source of facts and information about the juvenile court, juvenile court judges, dependency, delinquency, special populations from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC).
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Two New Reports from Chapin Hall The Center for Children at the University of Chicago has released these two downloadable reports: Issue Brief: Focusing Juvenile Justice on Positive Youth Development Juvenile Justice programs are largely focused on the traditional goals of law enforcement – detection, suppression, supervision, and punishment. This issue brief examines how juvenile justice agencies might draw from the growing body of evidence on positive youth development to improve services for youthful offenders. Behavior Problems and Educational Disruptions Among Children in Out-of-Home Care in Chicago This study explores the intersection of placement in foster care and the emotional disturbance (ED) classification. It suggests that it is critical that both the education and child welfare systems work to identify problems early in a child’s educational career and that interventions must address not just the problematic behaviors, but also the core problems underlying children’s behavioral issues. ++++++++++ The Economics of Juvenile Jurisdiction This newly released white paper from the Urban Institute considers the costs and benefits of the separate juvenile justice system in the United States. The paper raises many more questions than it answers and recommends a potential research agenda for investigating the economic consequences of legal decision-making in cases involving youthful offenders. ++++++++++ Debates Life Sentences of 46 Teen Killers
The Rocky Mountain News reports on whether some of the inmates sentenced as teens deserve a chance at freedom. Most of the young lifers were sentenced in the mid to late 1990s, when juvenile crime peaked. By Colorado law they have no chance for parole. A multi-day series. ++++++++++
Special Report - Breaking Through: Juvenile Justice Reform
The American Prospect magazine online includes a special report on the resurgence of reform in the American juvenile justice system. The report consists of a series of eight articles, all available to read and/or download online. You may want to take a moment to look over “Adolescents, Maturity, and The Law: Why Science and Development Matter in Juvenile Justice” by Jeff Fagan.
++++++++++ Remember the Superpredators? How About the Massive Crime Wave Predicted for 2004?
In 1995, James Alan Fox told USA Today “There is a tremendous crime wave coming in the next 10 years, fueled not by old, hardened criminals, but by a group he calls ‘the young and the ruthless.’ The Richmond Times-Dispatch interviews Fox and other juvenile justice luminaries about the crime wave that never was and why they think it didn’t happen.
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Nathaniel Abraham is 19 and due for release in 2007 Abraham, charged as an adult but sentenced as a youth for shooting and killing a stranger when he was 11 years old, has come a long way both emotionally and intellectually, but there continue to be questions about his readiness for release in 17 months. He was sentenced by, and continues to be monitored by Pontiac, Mich. Judge Eugene Arthur Moore, a past president of NCJFCJ. Judge Moore’s decision in Nathaniel’s case received national attention and was published in the Juvenile and Family Court Journal. If you’d like to have a copy of Moore’s decision, send me an email and we’ll send you a copy. ++++++++++ Juvenile Court Statistics 2000 The National Center for Juvenile Justice in Pittsburgh (NCJFCJ’s research arm) presents this 123 page report, the 74th such report in its series on Juvenile Court Statistics. The report analyzes offenses charged in delinquency cases, demographic characteristics of juveniles involved, sources of referral, and case processing. It also profiles status offense cases disposed between 1985 and 2000. The data in this report comes from more than 2,000 courts with jurisdiction over 71% of the juvenile population of the country in 2000.
Downloadable pdf file. ++++++++++ A Blueprint for Juvenile Justice Reform The Youth Transition Funding Group’s Juvenile Justice Work Group offers this new resource on the challenges and opportunities to improve the administration of justice for youth across the country. This report highlights innovative reforms and provides a partial list of resources too.15 pages. Downloadable. +++++++++ Reclaiming Futures at Ten Sites Around the Country Reclaiming Futures is a new approach to helping teenagers caught in the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime. It is a five-year $21 million initiative of the Robert Wood Foundation. The project promotes new opportunities and standards of care in juvenile justice by bringing communities together to improve drug and alcohol treatment, expand and coordinate services, and find jobs and volunteer work for young people in trouble with the law. The Reclaiming Futures projects are located at ten sites throughout the country. Judge members of NCJFCJ head up a number of them. I recently had the opportunity to hear Judge Michael Anderegg of Marquette, Michigan speak about the work of Project W.E.A.V.E. in that community. At the home page of this site you can download a project report: Engaging and Empowering Families in Finding Solutions. ++++++++++ |
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