This Chapin Hall issue brief examines how juvenile justice agencies can draw from the growing body of evidence on positive youth development to improve services for juvenile offenders.

What's happening to children in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems in Louisiana and Mississippi? The two are already among the nation's poorest states, and the recent chaos has disrupted or destroyed facilities, group homes, and foster care arrangements. Children in the juvenile justice system are more likely to get stuck in facilities far from home and the systems themselves are vulnerable. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which has long targeted reform efforts in these areas, has the story.

With an inspired leader at the helm, Missouri shows the rest of the nation an effective--and cost-effective--reform model for young offenders.

With some 15,000 children and teens arrested for sex offenses each year, communities clearly have a stake in effective treatment for young offenders. Fortunately, there are programs helping adolescents re-join society successfully and safely. Linda Baker looks at Oregon's Counterpoint center.

We all know that today's teens are in crisis, and are worse off in nearly every way than generations past. Or are they? In his newest book, Framing Youth, author Mike A. Males turns a critical eye on the American media's assertion that today's teens are more violent, drugged-out and reckless than ever.

The mission of the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance is to promote a safe, effective and equitable continuum of services for children and youth involved in, or at-risk of involvement in, the juvenile justice system.

Being young and mentally ill may not be a crime—but it often results in incarceration. In 2003, juvenile detention centers in most states reported routinely holding mentally ill young people, simply because treatment programs are not available. One state that has begun to put together the pieces of a better system is Texas. Cecilia Garcia reports.

Many young people in the juvenile justice system have serious mental health problems that need treatment; and many young people with such problems end up in juvenile justice facilities because they lack access to treatment in their communities. CFK has compiled information on the challenges and effective solutions.

On March 1, 2005, in a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing people who were under the age of 18 when they committed crimes is unconstitutional There are 72 juvenile offenders currently on death row in the United States.

This video from WITNESS and Books Not Bars details human rights violations and abuses in CYA institutions and calls for closing CYA's nine facilities and replacing them with community-based alternatives and small rehabilitation centers that give youth a chance to succeed on the outside. Some footage highlights the differences between CYA and model community-based, service-rich facilities in Missouri.