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-- Shakespeare
Brevity on the NetSeptember 1, 2006 A monthly newsletter about juvenile justice
from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges,
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Young Latinas at Risk
Latina girls, one of the fastest-growing groups of youths in the country, are in trouble. Research shows they are more likely to drop out of school and to use drugs and one in six of them attempt suicide. In this half-hour episode of Talk of the Nation, NPR invited researchers and a reporter to talk about the risks to high school age Latinas who are first or second generation in the United States. In addition to suicide, they also experience depression, social isolation, and have the highest rate of teen pregnancy among all girls. These young women attempt to straddle two cultures: traditional Hispanic culture and the woman’s role in it they get at home from their mothers, and the freedoms associated with American culture they get in school and elsewhere in our society. Click on the link above to listen to this interview. ++++++++++ NCJFCJ’s Fall Programs
Click on this link to see information about seven programs NCJFCJ is offering this fall; four of them in Reno, one in Brooklyn, New York, one in Providence, Rhode Island, and another in Santa Fe, New Mexico in early December. Read a brief description of each with links to more details if you find one that catches your fancy. ++++++++++ NACA Guidelines for Child Advocacy Centers in Indian Country
The Native American Children’s Alliance has published a 14 page set of guidelines for child advocacy centers in Indian Country. The guidelines are available for download at the NACA section of the National Children’s Advocacy Center web site. ++++++++++ ABA Focuses on At Risk Youth in 2006-07
ABA President Karen Mathis has chosen to focus on at-risk teens and the legal issues that affect them during her term of office. Recommendations from the ABA Youth at Risk Initiative Planning Conference are available for download. The recommendations include: Better Hearing the Voices of Youth in Court Reforming the Juvenile “Status Offender” Process Enhancing Teen Access to Safe and Appropriate Prevention and Treatment Services Assisting Youth Who Are “Aging Out” of Foster Care
There is also a downloadable outline for establishing and running a truancy program available to you online from the Spring 2006 Criminal Justice Section Newsletter. These two pages will give you the bare bones for setting up a program. More detailed information available online. See note at the end of page two. ++++++++++ National Violent Crime Summit Participants Say Crime Is on the Rise
Police chiefs, mayors and other government officials compared local crime statistics they have not yet shared with the FBI this week and concluded that crime is on the rise around the country and includes new elements: Robbers, especially juveniles, are more likely to shoot victims, even when they do not resist in Cincinnati. Among youth gangs in New Jersey, shootings are more often tied to “disrespect” or perceived slights than drugs or territory. Robberies and shootings increasingly involve members of the same racial or ethnic minority. Thirty-three percent of Boston’s gun crimes were committed in 10 locations, mostly public housing projects where minorities live.
++++++++++ STATE Statutes on Relocation
The ABA makes this chart from a recent issue of Family Advocate, the quarterly magazine of the Family Law Section, available for download. Two page chart gives you the state statute, notice, presumption for/against relocation, whether the best interests of the child are paramount, and recent or significant cases. ++++++++++ CASA’s Annual Back-to-School Survey of Teen Substance Abuse Finds Parents Self-Deluded and Unaware of the World Their Teens Live In
From the survey: 80% of parents believe that neither alcohol nor marijuana is usually available at parties their teens attend. BUT, 50% of teen partygoers attend parties where alcohol, drugs or both are available. 98% of parents say they are normally present during parties they allow their teens to have at home. BUT, a third of teen partygoers report that parents are rarely or never present at the parties they attend.
The survey includes other information of interest: At every age girls are found to be at equal or higher substance abuse risk compared to boys of the same age. One in four (26%) 17-year-olds will personally know someone their age that was the victim of gun violence and 27% will have personally witnessed drug sales in their neighborhood.
++++++++++ http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/news_at_glance/214739/on_4.html
OJ’s newletter for July/August 2006 is online and available to read now. The lead article in this issue is about the Los Angeles Homeboy Industries job training program that educates, trains, and finds jobs for at-risk and gang-involved youth. ++++++++++ Juvenile and Family Law Digest
NCJFCJ publishes a monthly digest of case law, one of three publications all members of our organization receive with their membership. For a look at a representative issue of the Digest, click on the link above. ++++++++++ Engaging Respondents in Civil Restraining Orders: A New Approach to Victim Safety
This publication from the Vera Institute of Justice explores how the Dorchester Municipal Court in Massachusetts partnered with a non-profit agency to better engage respondents to reduce violations and violence following a request for a civil protection order. This publication is one part of a four-part series, the Judicial Oversight Demonstration Initiative. The other three parts are available for download or purchase and can been seen here too. ++++++++++ Evaluation of an Illinois School-Based Probation Program Jackson County, Illinois was awarded a three-year grant to develop and operate a school-based probation program for juvenile probationers. This program evaluation summary highlights the lessons learned and offers suggestions for jurisdictions interested in implementing a school-based probation program. 4 page pdf file. ++++++++++ Foster Care Resources
The Foster Care Alumni of America Organization has a section of resources on its web site that cover mentoring, recruiting foster parents, teaching children and youth in foster care, youth transitioning from foster care, and information about the foster care system. ++++++++++ Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center Program Evaluation Briefing Series
For anyone looking for direction or help in evaluating programs, working with an evaluator, evaluating small juvenile justice programs, using a formal cost-benefit analysis, this series of publications from the JJEC should meet your needs. Everything on this page is downloadable. ++++++++++ New Publications from NCJJ
The National Center for Juvenile Justice’s Technical Assistance to the Juvenile Court Project produces special project bulletins which are developed periodically on important juvenile justice issues and emerging topics. This page takes you to a summary of three new bulletins in the series: Guide to the State Juvenile Justice Profiles The Importance of Timely Case Processing in Non-Detained Juvenile Delinquency Cases How Does the Juvenile Justice System Measure Up? Applying Performance Measures in Five Jurisdictions.
++++++++++ National Evaluation of the Title V Community Prevention Grants
This report presents findings from a national evaluation of this grant program which provides communities with funding and a guiding framework for developing and implementing comprehensive juvenile delinquency prevention plans. This lengthy report is downloadable by chapter. ++++++++++ Thousands of Underage Illegal Immigrants from Central American Countries Are Detained
Last year 6,460 underage illegal immigrants from Central America were detained in the US while traveling without their parents and were sent to government shelters, a 35% increase over the previous year. Many of these young people are traveling alone because their parents are already in the United States illegally and are unwilling to fetch them now that the chances of getting caught have increased. Mexico deported almost four thousand children trying to sneak through Mexico to the United States in 2005. A new report from Harvard University points to the void in immigration law that makes no provision for children. Children are subject to the same proceedings and evidentiary standards as adults. They are thrust into a system designed for adults, often without legal counsel or the emotional support to families to help them manage.
According to the report, the Office of Refugee Resettlement says that the average age of children in federal custody in 2004 was 15, with 79% of them between the ages of 15 and 18, and 20% of them between birth and age 14. Harvard’s research reveals that little data exists on the impact of the U.S. immigration and asylum system on children. “Government record-keeping is virtually non-existent, official attention to the problem is ad hoc, and there is no senior administrative individual or entity charged with overall responsibility for unaccompanied and separated children within the system.” The report, Seeking Asylum Alone: Unaccompanied and Separated Children and Refugee Protection in the U.S., is downloadable, but lengthy. It’s 111 pages. ++++++++++ The Family Assessor Program
The Alabama Family Assessor Program is designed to help social workers recognize indicators of domestic violence. A screening tool is used to determine if domestic violence is present in the household. New rules were established for interviewing families and children about domestic violence. If domestic violence has been assessed and determined to be present everyone in the family will be interviewed separately and privately. ++++++++++ Intensive Program for Juvenile Sex Offenders
The Counterpoint residential program for boys is a year-round program with an on-site academic program. Boys stay an average of 18 months. They come into the program by referral from the juvenile justice system or on the recommendation of family, school or social service agencies. Counterpoint is based on a cognitive behavioral and relapse prevention therapy model. The key is for offenders to take responsibility for their abusive actions and reject the “thinking errors” they used to justify their abuse of another child. Only 6% of all juvenile sex offenders who receive treatment re-offend. ++++++++++ Methamphetamine and Child Welfare
The National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning has put up a very nice set of resource pages for meth and child welfare, including a curriculum for meth basics and worker safety. ++++++++++ MTV Juvies
MTV News and Docs will go inside Indiana’s juvenile justice system for the new documentary series, MTV Juvies, which premieres September 5 at 10:00 pm ET/PT. Set in Lake County’s Juvenile Division and the Juvenile Justice Complex, this eight-part series depicts what happens to juvenile offenders during their stay at the detention center and offers an unprecedented look inside the juvenile court. Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura, a member of NCJFCJ, is featured in the series.
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Joey Binard, for the Juvenile & Family Law Department, NCJFCJ
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