Juvenile crime rates are down, as is enthusiasm for the "get-tough" reforms of the 1990s, including transferring young people to the adult justice system. The latest issue of the Future of Children examines juvenile justice system policy and practices and identifies reforms that are working to reduce juvenile crime -- including those that take into account that adolescents differ from adults and that the justice system alone is ill-equipped to address the needs of the young people involved.

The Dallas Morning News reports that the "Texas Youth Commission remains so dysfunctional a year after sweeping reforms were enacted that the agency should be abolished and its operations merged with the state's juvenile probation authority, a legislative advisory panel said Wednesday." This would create a new combined agency, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

A new report from Global Issues Resource Center documents the status of youth and teen courts, a juvenile justice prevention and intervention program that uses volunteer youth to help sentence their peers. In 1993, fewer than 75 local youth and teen courts existed in a dozen states -- in 2008, more than 1,000 communities operate these local juvenile justice programs.

This Public/Private Ventures guide draws upon lessons learned from seven years of experience in Philadelphia to describe how cities and other jurisdictions can plan and carry out an initiative like the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership. The program focuses on youth ages 14 to 24 who are at greatest risk of killing or being killed, and melds supervision and supports to steer them away from violence and toward productive
lives.

To make positive change for kids, you need to know where things stand, what’s working and what needs to be improved. The annual KIDS COUNT Data Book offers both data and context for 10 indicators of child well-being—and drills down to a state and local level. This year’s essay offers a “roadmap for reform” in juvenile justice. CFK summer intern Maria Allen attended the June 2008 launch event in DC and has this overview.

Youth serving time in adult prisons are more likely to receive harsher sentences and little or no rehabilitation services, be exposed to violence and victimization, and, ultimately, more likely to face future arrests than similar offenders in the juvenile system, according to research. "Adult time" is on the rise for young offenders. This National Council on Crime and Delinquency report finds that more than 7,000 children are currently in adult jails; in the early 1990s, that number was 2,000. In most cases (85 percent), youth are sent to adult court by the prosecutor or legislature, and not by judicial authority. The report also looks at the various ages at which children are tried as adults, either automatically by their charges, or by the discretion of the courts.

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

Should systems that deal with and serve young people actively engage them in developing youth policies and programs?

Many of the incarcerated men and women in this country are parents. Their children pay a high price—and with almost two-and-a-half million children experiencing the loss of a parent to the criminal justice system, it's a price that is also paid by schools, neighborhoods, and extended families.

Chapin Hall Center for Children and The MacArthur Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policy are co-sponsoring Adolescence and the Transition to Adulthood.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) through a grant to the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) presents the 11th Annual DMC Conference.