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February 2007
CJJ Leadership News
- A Message from CJJ National Chair Robin Jenkins
CJJ Government Relations Alert
- Red Alert Response to the President's Budget Proposal
- JJDPA Conference Call Series Scheduled Starting February 26, 2007
CJJ/NJJN Staff News
- Contact Information and New Hires
CJJ Conference and Publication News
- JJDPA Today: CJJ Summit on Reauthorization of the JJDPA
- Call for Presentations
- Save the Date! - CJJ Northeast Region Conference
- CJJ Releases Second Publication on Adolescent Brain Development
- CJJ’s Revitalized Web site: www.juvjustice.org
State Advisory Group News – From the Field
- Generating Youth Involvement: Perspectives from a JJ Specialist and Youth SAG Member
Juvenile Justice Specialist and DMC News
- Compliance Monitor Training Report
- DMC Coordinators’ Training of the Trainers (TOT) Report
Detention Reform News
- CJJ Peer Learning Network and Annie E. Casey Foundation JDAI Help Desk
Resources and Information of Note
- CJJ Mourns Denny Maloney, Juvenile Justice Pioneer and Leader
- New Zogby Poll – Attitudes of U.S. Voters toward Youth Crime and the Justice System
- Peter Ash - Adolescents in Adult Court
- 2006 State Juvenile Justice Legislation
- JLC Publication: Protecting Youths from Self-Incrimination
- National Conference on Juvenile Justice
- National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts
- Aging Out of Foster Care
CJJ Leadership News
As we begin our work in 2007, I’d like to use the Coalition for Juvenile Justice’s e-Monitor to share my “vision” for the Coalition as your 2007 National Chair. Some of you may already know that CJJ’s funding landscape has changed entirely in the last few years from being an organization funded solely by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to an organization built on the strength of private grants, membership contributions, other private contributions, and revenue from products and services. Recently, CJJ learned that it was not selected to provide OJJDP’s State Advisory Group (SAG) Training for FY07, despite a truly excellent bid. Yet, CJJ has much to do and offer. I want to point out some important ideas and my optimism regarding CJJ’s future.
However, I cannot go forward without paying tribute to those who came before me. CJJ is a dynamic organization of committed volunteers representing the states. I’ve been blessed by the influence of amazing leaders over the past 9 years, including our current Past-Chair Judge Paul Lawrence, who guided us through a very challenging year with aplomb and steadfast wisdom. I do not have space here to mention each important person that influenced positively my own CJJ growth. You, as CJJ members, have been very fortunate to have quality chairpersons (and other officers/committee chairs) from each dedicated person called to serve. My own evolution has been shaped by Linda Hayes, Bernardine Adams, Bob Pence, John Dewese, Rod Cook, Vicki Blankenship, Ken Schatz, Tom Leahy and Tom Begich, as well as wonderful (former and current) Juvenile Justice Specialists Larry Carter, Suzanne Toguchi, Mark Ferrante, and a bevy of state Specialists not the least of which include those from my home state of North Carolina. These folks are all important, highly recognized leaders at the national and state levels and it’s clear that they personify the old saying, “It’s nice to be recognized as important; but more importantly, to recognize that you must be nice.”
I’ve learned innovation, creativity and vision from so many SAG Chairs, members, specialists and members-at-large that I am constantly humbled by the skills and commitment members and volunteers demonstrated along my way. And let’s not forget the very hard working, under-resourced staff in the national office. As they’ve come, and some gone, they have been the glue in the joints throughout the years.
I want to reserve a sentence or two to congratulate Nancy Gannon Hornberger, CJJ’s new Executive Director. CJJ’s Search Committee looked nationwide for a person who has the experience, vision, and nonprofit management and advocacy skills to take us to the next level. While the committee met outstanding and talented candidates, Nancy stood above the rest and now has the managerial reins of the organization. Having been a part of the search, I want to comment that it was objective, advised by an extremely helpful and competent executive search firm (TransitionGuides funded in part through the Annie E. Casey Foundation), and fully carried out the expectations of CJJ’s Board of Directors. Nancy and the rest of the staff will need each of us to re-dedicate ourselves to CJJ in order to achieve our goals of having the best juvenile justice system imaginable. After all, you are CJJ and CJJ is you.
Now, about the future: For 13 years I served as a “court psychologist” (and have been a practicing psychologist working with children and families for 24 years). I’ve worked with some of the most serious offenders on the books, including youth who took others’ lives, sex offenders and dangerous sociopaths—as well as more typical youth who have made judgmental errors and landed in the juvenile court. This is given as preface for my subsequent opinions about the future of CJJ.
My vision of the Coalition is as follows:
- CJJ should be an organization that advocates for a juvenile justice system that balances the rights of victims with those of offenders. I believe this can be done using all the resources that the law, science, and advocacy make available to us. But a core belief that I’ve personally held for many years stems from a quote that a physician friend mentioned to me not long after I began practicing (this quote has been around for years): “More important than knowing what disease the patient has, is knowing what patient has the disease.” Translated to our field of juvenile justice: “More important than knowing what offense a juvenile may have committed, is knowing what juvenile has been accused of committing the offense.” Unless we objectively and thoroughly understand our youth, we cannot understand the best course of intervention – this includes their abilities to understand the court system, their culpability, their rights, their developmental status/needs, and their options.
- I believe in collaboration – a now too-often-used buzz word that rarely meets expectations when bandied about. I see CJJ as a national hub of effective collaboration, an organization that facilitates interagency and intergovernmental relationships where/when feasible and through which CJJ members happily participate in other collaborative processes when requested to do so.
- I see CJJ as an organization that has a rich historical infrastructure (SAGs) that can be built upon to transform CJJ into an even broader and stronger national voice for juvenile justice. Subsequently, I see a membership transformation in CJJ’s future (thank you Glenn Quinney (NH)) to expand to include grassroots individuals, agencies and other state and national organizations complementing our core SAG-driven strengths. (Thanks, too, go to Sue Kamp (VT) for pushing forward on this important work.)
- I see CJJ as a positive change agent, using its resources to improve outcomes for children and families impacted by the system in measurable, evidence-focused ways.
- I see CJJ as an organization that innovates – bringing those in the discovery fields (basic and applied science) together with practitioners (SAGs, Specialists, NJJN members and members-at-large) as well as advocates from both grassroots and formal agencies.
- I see CJJ as a barrier reducing organization – reducing and/or eliminating barriers to the implementation of humane, moral and effective interventions with youth of all color, background and circumstance. CJJ has an imperative to do something about Disproportionate Minority Contact and Confinement and all injustices to children throughout our county in OUR lifetimes, not sometime in the murky and unforeseeable future. It is an amazing travesty that we live in the world’s richest country; yet cannot (seemingly) afford to build and staff youth programs and centers that use the best science, the best training and the most effective accountability programs shown to work.
2007 brings substantial opportunities for CJJ’s growth and positive development. Even while OJJDP has outsourced their competitive SAG training grant to a for-profit logistics provider and CJJ seeks clarification of this decision, CJJ leaders also see this change as an opportunity to do some things we have not been able to do while under OJJDP’s rules/regulations. The change may be challenging, too, in that CJJ will not have funding, as has been the practice since 1985, to be the OJJDP contractor for SAG training.
HOWEVER, CJJ is sustainable and growing with new funding and support (thanks to our State/SAG Members, the John D. and Catherine MacArthur Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, among others) and now able to host SAG training in other ways.
I’m very happy to report that June 9th – 12th, 2007 you’re invited to Washington, DC (Washington Plaza Hotel) for what is shaping up to be a powerful, informative JJDPA Reauthorization Summit and Member Meeting (see the CJJ Conference News section below for more information). Congress will begin exploring reauthorization this year. Each SAG Chair, member, Juvenile Justice Specialist, NJJN member, and member-at-large has something important to contribute. This is the strength and impact that CJJ brings to SAGs and the field in general – one voice of knowledgeable state perspectives, coupled with a national presence in Washington and on “the Hill” that cannot be replaced. I encourage you to stay focused on why CJJ came to be – to provide an organization, a voice and a national and independent network that ensures that the JJDPA is shaped with state and local input in a way that independently advises the federal government. We must be an active, informed voice in this process in partnership with our friends in the field (including other contractors working with SAGs), working not only to reauthorize this important legislation but to improve it based on your experiences and insights.
CJJ is moving to strengthen its “Hill presence” and effectiveness with Congressional staff members. And as CJJ’s funding sources change, CJJ will also have organizational decisions to make in terms of structure, finances, activities and initiatives. You will play a central role in deciding CJJ’s future in 2007 – but you, like me, must make that commitment to stay active and stay involved.
So at this point I’ll stop as space limitations constrain me. But before ending I need you to know this – the members of CJJ’s volunteer leadership, committees and paid staff are 100% committed to bringing you the best juvenile justice organization and network in the country. We will surely see you in 2007 at at least one national meeting and perhaps more. We will continue to move information, tools and knowledge along to you to inform your work. We will deploy new tools in reaching out to you and the full membership. We will survey you from time to time to get your feedback, but you can always provide your opinions directly to me (via e-mail at rjenkins@cccommunicare.org or by phone at (910) 222-6089), to others on the National Steering Committee, or to Nancy and the staff in Washington. We need your guidance, support, suggestions and advice. But most importantly, we need you – to stay with us as we transform and build CJJ into the national voice for children and families involved in the juvenile justice system. I’m looking forward to a great and exciting year together.
I’ll see you in Washington, June 9-12, and throughout the year in other locations …
Warmest of regards,
Robert H. (Robin) Jenkins, Ph.D.
CJJ Government Relations Alert
RED ALERT RESPONSE TO THE PRESIDENT’S BUDGET FROM CJJ NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE & CJJ GOVERNMENT RELATIONS COMMITTEE
President's Budget Proposal Jeopardizes Federal Support for State & Local Delinquency Prevention
The President's Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08) budget, released Feb. 5, 2007, further shifts burdens of cost and responsibility for juvenile justice to the states—placing at risk critically needed funding and other forms of support now provided to states by the U.S. Department of Justice. As costs shift to the states across the domestic program budget, a 25% deeper cut as compared with current levels is proposed in overall federal juvenile justice spending.
Title II (Formula Funds) and other federal grant streams designed to support State Plans and Compliance with Core Requirements and Purposes in the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) would no longer be guaranteed under this proposal. Instead, federal juvenile justice assistance to states would be reduced and managed as a discretionary, competitive grant program for state and local entities, under the authority of the Office of Justice Programs. State and local entities would bid for grants and face uncertainty as to whether they would receive federal funds at all, as well as for how much and for how long. Such a discretionary, competitive grant program would mean there would no longer be a relatively consistent, coordinated nationwide effort to reduce juvenile delinquency and improve juvenile justice systems.
KEY STREAMS OF FEDERAL JJ FUNDING AS APPROPRIATED (in millions):
| |
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY05
|
FY06
|
FY07
CR Res.
|
President's
FY 08 Proposed |
Title II
Formula Funds |
$83.3 |
$83.2 |
$83.3 |
$79.2 |
$79.2 |
--0-- |
Title V
Local Delinq.
Prevention |
$46.1 |
$79.2 |
$79.4 |
$64.4 |
$64.4 |
--0-- |
JABG |
$188.8 |
$59.4 |
$54.6 |
$49.5 |
$49.5 |
--0-- |
| DPBG |
$126.4
Via diff.
vehicles |
--0-- |
--0-- |
--0-- |
--0-- |
--0-- |
OJJDP |
$6.8 |
$3.6 |
$3.0 |
$0.7 |
$0.7 |
--0-- |
Demonstration
Projects |
--0-- |
$78.8 |
$101.4 |
$105.0 |
$105.0 |
--0-- |
Mentoring
|
$15.9 |
--0-- |
$14.9 |
$9.9 |
$9.9 |
--0-- |
Child Safety |
--0-- |
--0-- |
--0-- |
$30.0 |
$30.0 |
--0-- |
The President’s proposal zeros out key streams of federal juvenile justice funds and replaces them at a lower level with a discretionary, competitive grant program for states and local jurisdictions, entitled the “Child Safety and Juvenile Justice Program” scheduled at $254 million—down 25% from $338.7 million under the continuing resolution for FY07.
The President’s proposal also appears to erode support for the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), which has led nationwide efforts to reduce delinquency and improve community safety since it was established 33 years ago.
Importantly, there appears to be little or no support for federal-state relations and assistance, although reducing Disproportionate Minority Confinement (rather than Contact) is listed in the budget as a priority area for grants to local and state entities.
SUGGESTED ACTIONS:
We urge State Advisory Groups and all CJJ allies to draw attention to the consequences that this proposal would have for your state if it goes unchallenged. Because the President’s budget proposal has the potential to do away with programs under the JJDPA as reauthorized in 2002, as well as the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant as reauthorized in 2005, it would mean loss of significant funds as well as training and technical assistance to:
- Keep status offenders out of locked detention;
- Guard against children being placed in adult jails and other setbacks in conditions of confinement for children and youth;
- Improve mental health, substance abuse, educational screening and services for at-risk and adjudicated youth;
- Support law enforcement and delinquency prevention initiatives;
- Advance other important juvenile justice programs and system improvements that are supported (at least in part) with federal monies.
Please share your concerns about the President’s budget proposal with the following:
- Your Governor’s office;
- Heads of your State Planning Agency and Juvenile Justice Agency;
- Your Congressional representatives.
Voice your concerns about:
- Proposed elimination of predictable and effective support for state and local juvenile justice programs, by channeling all juvenile justice funding into a single competitive, discretionary grant-making program;
- Overall reduction of juvenile justice funding (another 25%);
- Apparent abandonment of the federal role in response to urgent state and local needs for juvenile crime and delinquency prevention.
Questions? Please feel free to contact:
Linda Hayes, Chair, CJJ Government Relations Committee: 910-892-4469 and lhayes@harnettlaw.com
Nancy Gannon Hornberger, CJJ Executive Director: 202-467-0864, ext. 111 and nancy@juvjustice.org
Where can you get the budget?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/pdf/appendix/jus.pdf
JJDPA Conference Call Series Scheduled Starting February 26, 2007
Please join in the conversation! CJJ will be hosting a series of conference calls on the pending reauthorization of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) over four weeks. Each call will be approximately one-hour in length and touch on a specific aspect of the JJDPA for discussion and analysis. Calls will be Monday from 4:00 – 5:00 p.m., eastern, for four Mondays: February 26, March 5, March 12 and March 19. The calls will be highly participatory in a focus group format—so the number of people on each call will be capped at 15 to allow everyone to be heard. If there is interest, additional series of conference calls will be scheduled.
To RSVP for the February 26-March 19, 2007 conference call series regarding the JJDPA reauthorization, please send an email with your identifying information to Idit Knaan at CJJ: knaan@juvjustice.org. She will confirm your participation and send advance information to help you to prepare for the calls.
CJJ/NJJN Staff News
Contact Information and New Hires
The CJJ/NJJN staff team is honored to serve you here in the nation’s capitol and all across the states. Our ears, phone lines and e-mail boxes are open. We are always eager to hear your thoughts, ideas and concerns and to serve our members’ interests. Please be in touch at any time:
- Nancy Gannon Hornberger, Executive Director: nancy@juvjustice.org and 202-467-0864, ext. 111
- Sarah Bryer, Director, National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN): bryer@juvjustice.org
- Eve Munson, Director, Membership & Programs: munson@juvjustice.org
- Jenni Gainsborough, Policy and Program Associate, NJJN: gainsborough@juvjustice.org*
- Kitty McCarthy, Communications and Programs Associate: mccarthy@juvjustice.org
- Idit Knaan, Administrative Assistant: knaan@juvjustice.org*
* Please join us in welcoming Jenni Gainsborough and Idit Knaan.
Jenni is NJJN’s new Program and Policy Associate. Jenni comes to us with 15 years of experience in the juvenile and criminal justice fields. Most recently she was the Director of Penal Reform International’s Washington office. Prior to her work at Penal Reform International, she worked at the Sentencing Project and at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. She has published extensively in the fields of criminal and juvenile justice and has strong media experience.
Penelope Spain, NJJN’s former Program and Policy Associate, left NJJN in January in order to devote herself full-time to Mentoring Today, the reentry program she started for youth exiting detention.
Idit is CJJ’s new administrative assistant. Idit brings considerable experience from a range of fields, including six years of office management experience. She has worked at the U.S. Embassy in Israel and in grant management and publications.
CJJ Conference and Publication News
JJDPA Today: CJJ Summit on Reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
Please save the date and
watch your mailbox for
details on the upcoming national CJJ meeting:
JJDPA Today
CJJ Summit on Reauthorization of the
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
June 9 – June 12, 2007
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) invites you to join fellow State Advisory Group members and allies for our Summit on Reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), June 9 - June 12, 2007. The meeting will be held in the heart of the nation’s capitol at the Washington Plaza Hotel.
The CJJ Summit will bring together SAG members and other key leaders from across the nation to learn, discuss and strategize about the pending reauthorization of the JJDPA, as well as to conduct Hill visits with their congressional delegates. The Summit will include:
- Dialogue groups among members regarding ways to strengthen the federal partnership in support of state and local needs;
- Examples of excellence in addressing the core purpose areas and core requirements of the JJDPA;
- Advocacy and Hill training sessions;
- Discussion sessions with other national organizations working to ensure a strong and progressive reauthorization; and
- Opportunities to share state insights with congressional staff.
The schedule will also include the following events, among others: CJJ Regional Coalition Business Meetings; the Juvenile Justice Specialists’ Business Meeting, the DMC Coordinators’ Meeting and CJJ Leadership Committee Meetings; the CJJ Board of Directors’ Meeting (Sunday, June 10); Hill Training & Hill Day (Tuesday, June 12).
Call for Presentations
CJJ is seeking presentation proposals for the CJJ Summit on Reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). Presentations at the Summit will highlight state successes, including best and effective practices for compliance with JJDPA core requirements, State Plan development and addressing needed juvenile justice system improvements. All State Advisory Groups are encouraged to respond.
Find the “Call for Presentations” on CJJ’s re-designed Web site, www.juvjustice.org, beginning February 12, or request a copy from Idit Knaan, Administrative Assistant, at knaan@juvjustice.org.
Save the Date! - CJJ Northeast Region Conference
The Northeast Region Coalition of CJJ will host a regional conference on April 20, 2007, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Flushing Library in Queens, New York. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Attendance is available on a first come, first served basis and is limited to Northeast region members (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C.).
Hotel accommodations can be made at the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel in Flushing, New York. For hotel reservations, contact Silvia Ponce at (718) 670-7420 or sponce@sheratonlaguardia.com.
Please inform your state Juvenile Justice Specialist of your interest in attending. We ask that Specialists in each state then provide attendees’ names to the New York State Specialist, Anne Cadwallader.
CJJ Releases Second Publication on Adolescent Brain Development with Recommendations for Policy and Practice
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) is pleased to announce the final of two briefing papers addressing, “What Are the Implications of Adolescent Brain Development for Juvenile Justice?”
While the first brief provided an overview of key concerns and resources, the second brief delves more deeply into the ways that brain development research could improve how our society at large, including juvenile justice professionals, practitioners and advocates, views adolescence and seeks to teach, manage and rehabilitate youth. Drawing upon scientific, historical and psychological perspectives, the second brief incorporates positive youth development principles and the expertise of individuals from a range of professional disciplines. The brief concludes with recommendations for a new framework, suggesting concrete roles and steps for State Advisory Groups, the juvenile court system and individuals.
CJJ is grateful to have had the grant support and advice of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for the project of producing both of our recent publications on adolescent brain development and juvenile justice. CJJ also wishes to specifically acknowledge and thank the following advisors for their expert assistance with this document: The Honorable Paul Lawrence, CJJ 2006 National Chair; Robin Jenkins, Ph.D., CJJ 2007 National Chair; Chyrl Penn, State Relations and Assistance Division, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice; Wendy Paget Henderson, Wisconsin Council on Children and Families; Michelle Ayesh, L.C.S.W., Physicians for Human Rights; and Steven Berkowitz, M.D., Yale Child Study Center. We also wish to acknowledge the work of the consulting author for CJJ, C. Rasheed Newson, as well as editor/project manager, Nancy Gannon Hornberger and editorial assistant, Kitty McCarthy of the CJJ staff.
Copies will be distributed within 30 days to all CJJ and NJJN members. Please also feel free to contact CJJ for a copy: Kitty McCarthy, CJJ Communications and Program Associate, at mccarthy@juvjustice.org.
CJJ’s Revitalized Web site: www.juvjustice.org
Come and visit CJJ online! Beginning February 12, CJJ's revitalized Web site will be available in its new, highly interactive format. It is a touchstone for ongoing government relations and program information, newsletters, reports, conference and meeting announcements and many resources of value in our collective efforts to strengthen and improve nationwide juvenile justice efforts. Many thanks for managing this massive overhaul of CJJ’s Web site go to Eve Munson and Kitty McCarthy of the CJJ staff, as well as our team of consultants including Sam Nelson and Lynn Koble of Clever Name Here and C. Rasheed Newson, copy editor.
Let us know what you think!
State Advisory Group News – From the Field
Generating Youth Involvement: Perspectives from a Juvenile Justice Specialist and Youth SAG Member
Contributed by Meg Williams, former Colorado SAG member and current Colorado Juvenile Justice Specialist, and Jeremy Wilson, current Colorado SAG (youth) member.
Pursuant to Section 223(a)(3)(A) of the JJDP Act, a minimum of one-fifth of the membership of State Advisory Groups (SAGs) must be youth members, appointed on or before their 24th birthday. Although this may sound reasonable, Colorado like many states has found that maintaining this ratio is actually very difficult. Colorado is currently maintaining compliance at 26 percent, but it has not been easy to either recruit or maintain this ratio. In order to address authentic youth involvement, it is important to understand its value, as this understanding can then provide the motivation to strengthen recruitment efforts.
The Positive Youth Development Movement, which is 30+ years strong, clearly establishes the benefit of youth inclusion in program and policy development. Yet, providing authentic opportunities for youth to become agents of change in issues that affect their lives, and seeing youth as assets and partners, rather than liabilities and “problems,” can be daunting. SAG members and Juvenile Justice Specialists alike have watched the struggle for authentic and meaningful youth involvement on SAGs for many years. But, it isn't necessarily due to lack of effort that we struggle to achieve and maintain the required 20 percent ratio. In order to be successful we need to answer three basic questions:
What are the challenges to engaging youth?
What are the barriers to their long-term involvement?
What can we do to support youth members?
Once we better understand these issues, our challenge is to develop a plan to eliminate the barriers that we can, and mitigate those that we cannot.
Recruitment and retention of youth members requires the effort of each state’s full juvenile justice staff, as well as the full contingent of SAG members. How do we find them? SAG members look to their home communities for youth who have been active in social issues or those who have had involvement in the system and want to engage in systems work. Once you have successfully recruited youth members, you need to work on retention. Be prepared to witness many struggles; struggles that are inherent in being a young adult but, nevertheless, those that will threaten a youth’s ability to remain committed to the SAG. While the difficulties of being a SAG member may not be limited to one specific group, those problems associated directly with the youth members are somewhat unique and have to be dealt with in their own way. They include transportation barriers, schedules and time commitment challenges, money hurdles and a lack of familiarity with government-related processes and acronyms.
Despite these issues, it isn't impossible for a SAG to maintain youth membership. SAGs can create opportunities for increased youth participation, hoping the extra contact with the other members outside of meetings, and also SAG sponsored site visits, will keep their interests high. In addition, with the aid of all members on the SAG who wish to openly incorporate the youth members, youth can not only feel welcomed and useful, but encouraged to ask questions, participate and learn, without fear of being judged or feeling incompetent.
In Colorado, we adopted an additional process for authentic youth involvement that appears to be a true source of support and encouragement for the youth. As youth are appointed, they are assigned a veteran SAG member as a mentor. It is the veteran member’s responsibility to orient the youth member to the SAG and the work to be accomplished. A staff member is also assigned as a support member to the youth members as a whole. That staff member serves as a point of contact for meetings and for a special youth grants program developed specifically for the youth members to administer. This youth grant program began with Colorado’s 2005 supplemental Formula Grant award. To support the youth and to ensure that they had the opportunity to participate meaningfully on the SAG, Colorado used a portion of the supplemental funds to support “mini” grants (under $5,000) to youth-serving organizations to fund youth development activities for at-risk youth. With the support of the staff member, these grants are overseen by the youth SAG member, a practice which provides a valid opportunity to participate in the process of making funding decisions, reviewing progress and making site-visits to the funded programs.
In addition to setting regular SAG meetings at grant-funded locations, Colorado's SAG schedules visits at juvenile justice facilities on weekends to allow the youth (and other interested SAG members) an opportunity to see the juvenile corrections system firsthand. Although SAG meetings are generally held during traditional work hours, youth SAG members often meet on weekends and nights to accomplish their work.
Colorado's SAG members also plan to develop a process by which youth members can shadow a SAG member for a day. By creating a biographical roster of the SAG, which includes members' education and work history (present and past), youth members can inquire about shadowing them to learn more about their field.
Despite all of the difficulties surrounding the encouragement and support of youth participation on State Advisory Groups, there appear to be just as many solutions. This is especially true when a SAG is able to keep a committed focus and an open mind to encourage youth members’ participation.
Juvenile Justice Specialist and DMC News
Compliance Monitor Training Report
Contributed by Mark Ferrante, New Jersey Juvenile Justice Specialist and CJJ National Juvenile Justice Specialist.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) held a National Compliance Monitoring Training the week of January 22, 2007 in San Diego, CA. Compliance Monitors from 49 states and several territories attended the training. Additionally, for the first time in many years, Juvenile Justice Specialists and Compliance Monitors were trained together on the compliance monitoring functions required under the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).
The first full day of training, Tuesday, January 23, 2007, was considered to be “rookie day.” Nonetheless, the agenda involved a thorough review of the ten elements which constitute an adequate system of compliance monitoring, three-year plan requirements, performance measures and monitoring by facility type. The second day featured a welcome by Marilyn Roberts, Deputy Administrator for Programs, OJJDP, and Greg Thompson, Associate Administrator, OJJDP, along with lead trainer Elissa Rumsey, Compliance Monitoring Coordinator, OJJDP. There were concurrent sessions on the use of the Valid Court Order (VCO) and immigration issues in compliance monitoring, along with use of the Rural Exception and monitoring of court holding facilities. The third day focused on field visits to six different facilities in the San Diego area (five local police departments and one juvenile detention center). This day offered participants a brief but welcome opportunity to enjoy the beautiful southern California weather.
The final half day of training included presentations on the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and OJJDP audits of state compliance monitoring systems.
For more information, please contact Mark Ferrante at mark.ferrante@njjjc.org.
DMC Coordinators’ Training of the Trainers (TOT) Report
Contributed by Andrea R. Coleman, Kentucky State DMC Coordinator.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), along with Bill Feyerherm, Oregon State Advisory Group member and Vice Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies at Portland State University, Thomas Harig, New York State DMC Coordinator, and Thomas Begich, Alaska State Advisory Group member and juvenile justice advocate, conducted the DMC Coordinators’ Training of the Trainers (TOT) January 22-24, 2007, in San Diego, CA.
DMC Coordinators were trained in a range of skills including the ability to communicate clearly as to what DMC is, how to measure DMC, and how to design data and empirically-based intervention strategies to assist targeted communities with reduction activities. The training also provided interactive opportunities to enhance group facilitation skills that can support local collaborative efforts to intentionally and systematically identify, assess and intervene with DMC, as well as to determine the effectiveness and fidelity of approaches used. Thirteen state DMC Coordinators participated in this initial TOT. OJJDP stated that it will conduct subsequent trainings to ensure that all state DMC Coordinators receive tools to provide technical assistance to targeted jurisdictions.
For more information, contact Andrea R. Coleman at andrear.coleman@ky.gov.
Detention Reform News
CJJ Peer Learning Network and Annie E. Casey Foundation JDAI Help Desk
As we move into a new year of work and progress, CJJ would like to invite you to join in our effort to reduce the number of children inappropriately detained and in improving community safety. Become part of CJJ’s evolving peer learning network that comprises leaders at different stages in the development and implementation of state and local detention reform programs – from individuals who are readying their jurisdictions for implementation of detention reform strategies to leaders engaged in full-scale statewide replication of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI).
Also, visit the JDAI Help Desk, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Web-based technical assistance program. This online library of sample work products and tools provides information on the JDAI core strategies and how to most effectively implement them. The site can be accessed at www.jdaihelpdesk.org or through the JDAI web pages at www.aecf.org.
Detention reform and CJJ’s partnership with JDAI continue to be central to CJJ’s plans in 2007. For more information about CJJ’s peer learning network on detention reform, please contact Eve Munson, Director, Membership and Programs: 202-467-0864, ext 109, or munson@juvjustice.org.
Resources and Information of Note
CJJ Mourns Denny Maloney, Juvenile Justice Pioneer and Leader
Denny Maloney, a juvenile justice pioneer and leader, passed away on February 6, 2007, in a car accident caused by a medical condition. A leader in Oregon’s Reclaiming Futures project and a champion of the “restorative justice” model, Maloney was a treasured and valuable community activist whose impact in improving the lives of children and families and creating new ways of approaching juvenile justice was nationwide. An article by Barney Lerten of Oregon’s KTVZ.com, quotes Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) on Denny Maloney’s passing:
"Central Oregon has lost another of its finest public servants," Walden said in a statement. "Denny Maloney inspired us all to do more to help those in need - especially our youth - to improve the quality of life for all citizens, and to keep a positive attitude while going about our work."
"I, like many, have lost a friend and trusted counselor," the congressman added. "My prayers are with his family during this most difficult time of loss. We will all miss his wisdom and his wit, his enthusiasm and his ability."
Read the full article on Denny Maloney at www.ktvz.com.
New Zogby Poll – Attitudes of U.S. Voters toward Youth Crime and the Justice System
The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) has just released findings from a poll commissioned in January 2007 regarding American attitudes toward the nation’s response to youth crime. Conducted by Zogby International, the poll results show that striking majorities favor rehabilitative services for youth and, despite a lack of confidence in the juvenile system, are largely opposed to prosecuting young people in adult court or incarcerating youth in adult facilities. A summary from the NCCD reports that:
- 89% of those surveyed think that rehabilitative services and treatment will help reduce crime. About half of those polled are in strong agreement that rehabilitation and treatment can help prevent youth from committing future crime.
- Over 80% of respondents believe that spending on enhanced rehabilitation services for youth in the juvenile justice system will save tax dollars in the long run. In comparison, only 1 in 7 (14%) disagrees.
- An overwhelming 9 in 10 majority (92%) thinks that instead of a blanket policy about trying youth in adult court, these decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis. Moreover, nearly 7 in 10 (68%) are in strong agreement with this statement.
- By almost 2 to 1 (60% to 32%) respondents to the poll think that non-white youth are more likely than white youth to be prosecuted in the adult system. Agreement with this varies among subgroups, from African Americans and progressives (74% and 82%) to Republicans and very conservative people (58% and 52%).
View the full NCCD report at www.nccd-crc.org.
Peter Ash - Adolescents in Adult Court
Dr. Peter Ash’s editorial article “Adolescents in Adult Court: Does the Punishment Fit the Criminal?” is available at the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online. An associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University, Ash gives an historical and recent overview of American attitudes toward adolescence and summarizes key research on adolescent culpability and decision-making, noting:
We should consider the adolescent as less responsible because he has not had the same amount of experience in making choices nor has he had the opportunity to reflect on his choices to the same extent as an adult. Knowing that an adolescent is still developing also contributes to the disquieting sense that an adolescent who is punished today is not the same person who will be sitting in prison five years from now.
Read the article at http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/content/full/34/2/145.
2006 State Juvenile Justice Legislation
The National Juvenile Defender Center has released a survey of state juvenile justice legislation in 2006. Intended as a guide, the information in the document is current though December 31, 2006, and organized in two separate sections. In the first section, legislation is organized into 22 issue areas including Aftercare & Reentry, Due Process, Female Offenders and Transfer & Sentencing. The second section re-organizes the juvenile justice legislation by state. View the complete document at http://www.njdc.info/pdf/2006%20State%20JJ%20Legislation.pdf.
JLC Publication: Protecting Youths from Self-Incrimination
The Juvenile Law Center (JLC) has released “Protecting Youth from Self-Incrimination when Undergoing Screening, Assessment and Treatment within the Juvenile Justice System” by Lourdes Rosado and Riya S. Shah. The publication reviews state statutes to determine what protections currently exist and concludes that the vast majority of states currently do not have protections that prevent statements made by youth from being used against them at the guilt and punishment phases of delinquency cases and criminal trials. View the JLC publication at http://www.jlc.org/news.php/36.
National Conference on Juvenile Justice
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFC) and the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) will co-sponsor the 35th National Conference on Juvenile Justice, March 4-7, 2007 in San Diego, CA. With the theme “Different Roles, Common Goals,” the conference seminars address a range of topics including gangs in rural communities, internet and child exploitation, dually adjudicated youth, juveniles with mental health disabilities and addressing methamphetamine use from a community perspective. For more information and to register, visit http://www.ndaa.org/events/index.html.
National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts
The Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission on Minorities, in conjunction with the New York State Unified Court System, will host the 19th Annual Conference of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts (NCREFC), May 2-5, 2007 in Brooklyn, NY. The theme of the conference is “Saving Our Children: Justice and Fair Treatment of Youth in the Courts” and speakers will include U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel, U.S. District Judge Dora L. Irizarry and Jeremy Travis, President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice. For more information and to register, visit http://www.consortiumonline.net/2007Annual.html.
Aging Out of Foster Care
University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall Center for Children has released an issue brief titled “Offending During Late Adolescence: How do Youth Aging Out of Care Compare with Their Peers?” The brief addresses two issues in particular: 1) how criminal behavior among youth in out-of-home care compares to that of youth more generally during the early transition to adulthood; and 2) whether offending declines during this time among foster youth. Ultimately, the researchers found that although offending by foster youth is generally higher than offending by other youth, over time most criminal behaviors in foster youth decline. View the brief at http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1443&L2=61&L3=132.
The CJJ e-Monitor is brought to you by staff and volunteer leaders of CJJ, and supported by membership fees paid by CJJ’s State Advisory Group members, Members at Large and Allies. We are grateful to all for their ongoing support.
The CJJ e-Monitor is distributed in the first week of every month. To submit items for publication, e-mail Kitty McCarthy at mccarthy@juvjustice.org. Items must be submitted two weeks prior to the first of the month for consideration. Inclusion and editing of submissions are subject to CJJ editorial guidelines.
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— Robin Jenkins, 2007 CJJ National Chair
— Kitty McCarthy, Editor
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