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Brevity on the Net

Wednesday, July 27,  2005

 A weekly newsletter about juvenile justice
from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges,
Brevity brings you news and information from around the country and on the Internet.

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Two New Reports on the Status of Kids and Their Families

Kids Count 2005

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s new Kids Count Data Book was released today. The report says more U.S. children are living in poverty and their parents often have difficulty finding full-time work. The report also found improvements in teen birth rates and high school graduation rates. Report statistics:

• The percentage of kids living in families in which no parent has full-time, year-round employment grew slightly, from 32% to 33%.
• Teen birth rate dropped from 48 births per 1,000 teens in 2000 to 43 per 1,000 in 2003.

America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2005

This report shows the same trends Kids Count report, more children in poverty after a five-year improvement. This publication is a compilation of statistics from 20 federal agencies about children’s economic security, health, behavior, social environment, and education. From this report:

• In 2004, 68% of children lived with two married parents, down from 77% in 1980. The 68% figure has remained steady for a decade.
• Children living with just a mother are more likely to live in poverty.

See also Signs point to repercussions of kids being poorer, an article in USA TODAY with information from both reports. 

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Trigger Lock law help cut gang-related killings in San Francisco

The number of killings in San Francisco attributed to gangs in largely African American neighborhoods has dropped by more than 50% so far this year from 2004, thanks in part of intervention by federal law enforcement. Police say the most important factor in the decline is the federal Trigger Lock law, which provides for prison terms of 10 years or more for convicted felons who are caught with a gun.

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Collaborative Divorce Gains in Popularity

An increasing number of attorneys, therapists and financial experts who work with divorcing couples are advocating that their clients choose a more productive and less hostile way to dissolve their marriages. Couples who elect to use this approach to divorce must agree in writing not to go to court or threaten to do so if things don’t go their way. A spouse who breaks that promise will find him or herself all alone. The attorneys and other professionals who had been guiding each step in the divorce will disappear.

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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.

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States act to get kids out of meth labs

Officials in Indiana and Kentucky are imposing strict rules meant to get children out of harm’s way and to make sure child protection caseworkers are safe too. 

• Only specially trained law enforcement officials are to enter meth labs and remove children.
• Children must leave their belongings behind, even their clothing and toys, and will be cleaned with wipes and sometimes wrapped in special blankets before riding in emergency vehicles.

 In Vigo County, Indiana, about 70% of children in the state system were rescued from meth labs or have been removed from parents who are meth abusers.

The new procedures were formally launched this week in Indiana and have been in place in Kentucky since late last year.

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Juvenile and Family Court Journal Abstracts are Now Online

Abstracts of the articles appearing in recent issues of the Journal are available to read in the Publications Section of our new web site. Click on the link above to see more.

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The Wilson Four: Arizona Students Born in Mexico, Raised in U.S., Legal Status in Limbo

Below find two articles on the Wilson Four, who have come to symbolize thousands of undocumented immigrants and their struggle to remain in the country.

U.S. Immigration Law is a Mess and Kids Suffer for It

Four Phoenix, Ariz. students who were brought to the United States as toddlers face deportation because they have neither citizenships nor visas. All four consider the U.S. as home, but will be deported to Mexico. The students, called the Wilson Four, were brought up in this country and have grown up in U.S. culture and language.

Wilson 4 Avoid Deportation

In an article in the Arizona Republic published earlier today (July 27, 2005), a U.S. immigration judge has tossed out the deportation cases against the Wilson Four saying they were targeted by immigration officials at the Canadian border because they are Hispanic. Judge John Richardson said the government violated the students’ constitutional rights against illegal search and seizure and unlawfully obtained evidence against the four. Their troubles are not over. They still remain in the country without legal status.

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Allen County Juvenile Re-Entry Program Lowers Recidivism Rates

A study by the Indiana Youth Institute says that Allen County’s Juvenile Re-Entry Program has lowered recidivism rate and taxpayer costs. The program connects juveniles with Superior Court Family Division officials upon their release, designing a unique program for each individual and including such services as addiction treatment and counseling.

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AFCC Guidelines for Parenting Coordinators

The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts makes these guidelines available for download on its web site. Parenting coordination is intended to assist high conflict parents to implement their parenting plan, to monitor compliance with the details of the plan, to resolve conflicts and to protect and sustain safe, healthy and meaningful parent-child relationships. The guidelines offer guidance in best practices, qualifications, training and ethical obligations for parent coordinators. 28 pages, including appendices.

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National Sex Offender Public Registry Web Site

The Department of Justice has activated its National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) web site which provides real-time access to public sex offender data nationwide in a single Internet search. The site allows parents and concerned citizens to search existing public state and territory sex offender registries beyond their own states. Data from twenty-two states is currently available on the NSOPR web site.

Click here for an article about Utah’s participation in the web site.

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Children