CFK Reports From: Not Just Talk: Incorporating Youth Voice into Juvenile Justice Reform and Practice
Event: Conference Call
Organized By: Connect for Kids
When: 3:00 pm EDT, June 21, 2006

By: Cecilia Garcia

Should systems that deal with and serve young people actively engage them in developing youth policies and programs? What are the advantages and challenges? Connect for Kids invited Tina Chiu, senior program associate at the Vera Institute of Justice, to discuss her work during this conference call.

Chiu has been exploring the approaches some jurisdictions are taking to involve young people in shaping and influencing juvenile justice reform initiatives, policies, and programs. Her forthcoming paper, “Not Just Talk: Incorporating Youth Voice into Juvenile Justice Reform and Practice,” will present her findings, will address the unique concerns and challenges to government officials presented by engaging young people in agenda setting and decision making about the juvenile justice system, and will provide practical suggestions for promoting youth participation in these endeavors.

Joining Chiu on the conference call panel was Steven Eiseman, deputy chief probation officer at the Juvenile Court of Cook County, Carolyn Conway and Dalvin Williams, representing the Cook County Juvenile Advisory Council. Jan Richter, advocacy director at Connect for Kids, moderated the discussion.

Tina Chui began by discussing the purpose of her paper: The Ford Foundation and Vera Institute wanted to see if youth were being engaged in the ongoing conversation about juvenile justice reform. Among the challenges & barriers to engaging young people are:

• Skepticism about what youth can contribute to the process, especially among those in the juvenile justice system,
• Preconceived notions that young people are apathetic and naïve, and
• Lack of buy-in from staff because of preconceptions about youth in juvenile justice.

Chiu cited several examples of effective youth engagement. The Santa Cruz County Probation Department started its reform effort in the late 1990s. The strategy included developing relationships with community-based organizations, as well as participating in initiatives like Reclaiming Futures, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Santa Cruz County police department sought youth input into its steering committee. Youth summits, open only to youth, provided a place for safe, honest conversations, facilitated by young people. Three youth summits have been held each year since they began in 2004. They have become a recognized way to get youth involved.

Chiu also cited the work of Vincent Schiraldi, the new head of the Youth Rehabilitation Services in Washington, DC. Schiraldi is determined to bring positive youth development principles to bear on juvenile justice in DC, and is initiating a new Justice for DC Youth advocacy group for detained youth so they can advocate for themselves – as Schiraldi says, so they can become “positive loudmouths.”

Steven Eiseman described the development of the Cook County Juvenile Advisory Council (JAC), which is a relatively new, but important project in Cook County. Eiseman stated that the .JAC, which began in 2002, has contributed to positive change in a short amount of time. JAC began with a 2002 conference with youth talking about how to make their probation period better and more positive. The listening adults realized that these young people had a lot of important things to say about their experiences in probation.

County officials started a conversation with young people and came up with the following answers to why youth voice important to juvenile justice.

Without youth perspective:

• We don’t know the impact we’re having
• Programming decisions are driven by staff assumptions about what kids & families need.
• Status quo tends to continue in spite of the changes that occur in the community that affect kids

With youth perspective, you can gain:

• A good process to see how well programs are working
• Decision making about programs and policies driven by life experiences
• A way to stay ahead of the curve and keep county juvenile justice systems relevant to the young people.

Dalvin Williams and Carolyn Conway described the guiding principles and mission of JAC, emphasizing the need for a strong partnership between the probation department staff and the youth in the system. Dalvin addressed the advantages of looking at the system from the youth’s perspective, stating that as “clients,” young people can be a resource to improve the juvenile justice system.

Carolyn said that the youth advisory council looked to create a mission statement that would assist the probation department in 3 areas:

1. What are we doing?
2. What are the needs?
3. How do we build the programming to meet the needs?

She laid out the following basic premises and principles:

1. An equal partnership between youth and staff is critical (youth and staff need each other)
2. System openness: the probation department must be able to listen to the youth advisory council and able to act on its recommendations.
3. There must be an investment in the youth, rather than just inclusion. This means a commitment from the probation department to inform, train and prepare youth so they can be competent partners, ready to really participate. It’s a way to develop young leaders.

Steve concluded by saying that the Cook County probation department is experiencing a great deal of change because of the youth council. There are new programs that grew directly out of JAC recommendations, among them an orientation session for young people new to probation and an exit survey to find out how youth experienced their probation and how they would suggest improving the system. There are also plans to institute a peer jury program; education and employment services are expanding to include a new GED program next September.

Tina Chiu observed that successful reforms in the juvenile justice system can happen if the system recognizes that youth need to be in the lead; that the system must invest in youth participation and growth; and that the system must promote the positive benefits of youth engagement to staff.