June 2014
CJJ Announcements 
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CJJ 2014 Annual Conference

This week, CJJ will host the 2014 Annual Conference, "Looking Back, Planning Ahead: A Vision for the Next 40 Years in Juvenile Justice." We are celebrating both the 30th anniversary of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, as well as the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. CJJ has assembled exciting panels, speakers and workshops that will focus on the implications of lessons learned in the last 40 years and the future of juvenile justice reform.

 

We are particularly excited for this year's Awards Dinner, where we will be celebrating CJJ's 30th Anniversary. We will be joined by U.S. Representative Tony C�rdenas, California's 29th District, and A.L. Carlisle, CJJ Founder. Each year CJJ recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of its national award recipients. Nominated and selected by CJJ members, each recipient has made significant and inspiring contributions to the juvenile justice field at the local, state, and federal levels.

 

The 2014 awardees include:

  • National CJJ Spirit of Youth Award: Marquis Parker (DC), Youth Leader, Mentoring Today/FREE Project
  • Tony Gobar Outstanding Juvenile Justice Specialist Award: Reg Garff (UT), Juvenile Justice Specialist, Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice
  • CJJ A.L. Carlisle Child Advocacy Award: David Schmidt (NM), Director, New Mexico Council on Crime and Delinquency

The conference will also include a federal update by OJJDP Administrator Bob Listenbee, and workshops discussing solitary confinement of juveniles, the school-to-prison pipeline, status offenses, and federal research and recommendations on evidence-based practices.

 

The 2014 CJJ Annual Conference would not be possible without our dedicated sponsors. CJJ is grateful to these individuals and organizations for their generous contributions. Particularly, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention State Training & Technical Assistance Center (OJJDP STTAC).

 

2014 Juvenile Justice Youth Summit

The Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) are co-hosting the 2014 Juvenile Justice Youth Summit. The Summit will take place August 7-8, 2014 in Washington, DC.

 

The Youth Summit seeks to cultivate and empower a new generation of juvenile justice advocates. Over two days, youth participants will engage in skill-building, networking, and leadership development. Participants will learn the basics of juvenile justice and have the opportunity to delve into more detail on trending topics in juvenile justice reform. The event will also feature activities around the 40th Anniversary of the passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).

 

CJJ and OJJDP are committed to increasing youth participation and engagement in juvenile justice reform and advocacy. We are excited to welcome youth from across the nation and U.S. territories to participate in this annual event.


Register today for the Youth Summit! To encourage youth participation, OJJDP is working with CJJ to offer a limited number of scholarships to attendees for both full and partial travel support. 
 

Youth Member Listserv

CJJ has created a listserv for youth CJJ members to network, exchange ideas about juvenile justice, and share stories about their successes and challenges. To subscribe, you must be a youth State Advisory Group Member, CJJ youth Member at Large, or CJJ Student Member. Sign up here! 

 

Models for Change Connections

Each issue, CJJ is pleased to highlight the latest news and innovations of the Models for Change Initiative of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.   

 

New Website Monitors Juvenile Justice System Change

A new website is introducing powerful tools to help policymakers, advocates, researchers and the media to chart nationwide change in juvenile justice policy, practices, and statistics. The Juvenile Justice GPS (JJGPS - Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics) site monitors juvenile justice system change by examining state laws and juvenile justice practice, combined with the most relevant state and national statistics. The site is a project of the National Center for Juvenile Justice funded through the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Models for Change Initiative.

 

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Webinar to Explore Reforming Responses to Status Offenses

On June 30 at 2 pm ET, the Status Offense Reform Center at the Vera Institute of Justice will present "Knowing Where You Are to Plan Where You're Going-A Systems Approach to Status Offense Reform." This webinar will focus on module 2 of the Status Offense Reform Center's "Toolkit for Status Offense System Reform." Presenters will discuss how juvenile justice stakeholders can assess their response systems to youth status offenses-such as truancy or running away-to design a reform approach outside the juvenile justice system. The Status Offense Reform Center is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of its Models for Change Resource Center Partnership.

 


SOS Project: Incorporating Youth and Family Voices in Status Offense System Change Efforts

Lisa Pilnik, CJJ Deputy Executive Director co-presented with staff from the Vera Institute of Justice at the National Council on Crime and Delinquency Conference on Children, Youth and Families on "Incorporating Youth and Family Voices in Status Offense System Change Efforts." The session introduced participants to CJJ's National Standards for the Care of Youth Charged with Status Offenses and Vera's Status Offender Reform Resource Center. The session included an interactive workshop on how to plan for reform by conducting a data-driven and family-informed diagnostic assessment of local systems and discussed how to engage families in status offenses cases. Click here to view the latest SOS Project resource on family engagement.  

 

 

40 for the 40th: Youth Video Competition

As part of the events surrounding the JJDPA's 40th Anniversary, Act4JJ is collecting 40 short stories that use real lives and experiences to illustrate the JJDPA's policy and systems impact. For example: a young person can share his story of how he was given the option of an alternative to prison and chose to complete that program; he's now in college. Similarly, an expert could put together a short video telling the story of his or her experience working with youth before JJDPA. Groups and individuals with potential stories are asked to send their information to Caitlin Johnson at caitlin@sparkaction.org.

 

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To encourage youth participation in 40 for the 40th, CJJ is hosting a Youth Video Competition. This competition is open to people ages 13 to 21. Entries should be no more than 2 minutes in length and should comply with all contest rules and regulations. All entries must be submitted by July 1 to Naomi Smoot at smoot@juvjustice.org. The winner will be chosen based upon the number of votes the video receives after being posted to CJJ's YouTube channel. The top video will be shown at CJJ's 2014 Youth Summit and featured in the 40 for the 40th project.    

 

Update on Federal Appropriations

CJJ, in conjunction with Act4JJ, hosted a constituent call-in day on June 3. Nearly 120 people called in as part of this event to remind their legislators about the importance of supporting funding for juvenile justice programs. So far this budget season, the House has approved $223.5 million for juvenile justice programs. Their bill, H.R. 4660, would cut Title V funds and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) program. The Senate is expected to make budgetary decisions by June 15. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Justice & Science, meanwhile, has set its funding levels for FY15 at $258 million. This represents a slight increase over the FY14 funding level of $254.5 million. 

  

NJJN News: Colorado Passes Bill To Ensure Early Access To Counsel

Last year, the National Juvenile Defender Center, an NJJN partner, and the Colorado Criminal Defender Coalition, an NJJN member, exposed a huge gap in access to defense counsel for Colorado youth-finding that as many as 45% of juvenile cases in Colorado proceeded with no defense attorney present at any point in the case. In response to these findings, CJDC crafted a bill (H.B. 1032) that mandated that every child who appears at a detention hearing in Colorado must be represented by counsel, and that young people not held in custody must be provided with clear instructions on how to access public defenders. The bill was signed into law in May, and will go into effect on November 1, 2014. Read the full story.

 




  

NJJN News: D.C. Member Teams With National Partner To Keep District Youth Out Of The Adult System

Last week, Washington, DC City Council members Jim Graham and Tommy Wells co-introduced the Youth Offender Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 2014 (YOARA), a bill that would significantly reform the District's policies on housing young people in adult confinement facilities. The bill is supported by the "Judge Our Youth, Restoring Balance to D.C. Youth Justice" campaign, run by NJJN member DC Lawyers for Youth and the Campaign for Youth Justice. Read the full story here. DC Lawyers for Youth and the Campaign for Youth Justice also recently released a report entitled Capital City Correction: Reforming DC's Use of Adult Incarceration Against Youth.

 

NJJN News: Michigan Report Shows High Cost Of Kids In Adult Justice System

The Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency (MCCD), an NJJN member, recently released a report titled, "Youth Behind Bars: Exploring the Impact of Prosecuting and Incarcerating Kids in Michigan's Criminal Justice System." The report highlights how Michigan's approach to youth justice does little to rehabilitate children, protect public safety, or wisely invest taxpayer dollars. The report's top recommendation is that Michigan raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 18, thereby placing 17-year-olds under the original jurisdiction of juvenile court.


 

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Other News and Resources  
 
The MacArthur Foundation is providing support for a number of state or local jurisdiction policy teams to participate in a special Evidence-Based Practice Academy organized by the Institute for Public Health & Justice at Louisiana State University and Advancing EBPLearn more. 
 
A new book from Nell Bernstein, Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prisonchronicles the plight of incarcerated kids that suffer abuse at the hands of guards, are traumatized by solitary confinement and are permanently scarred by separation from family and friends. Order it at www.thenewpress.com with the coupon code CASEY6314 to receive 30% off of your purchase. Learn more.
 
The Pew Charitable Trusts' Public Safety Performance Projectthe Council of State Governments' Justice Center, and the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators, recently published an online interactive tool on states' recidivism data practice. Additionally, the Council of State Governments Justice Center, in partnership with the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University, has released a report on school discipline policy entitled Breaking Schools Rules.   
 

CJJ 2009 Spirit of Youth Award recipient Starcia Ague will launch a project to develop the leadership capacity of youth held in detention facilities in Washington state to prepare them for engaged and productive lives once released. Learn more.

 

The National Council on Crime & Delinquency (NCCD) released a series of reports that were developed from a nationwide study on youth deincarceration. Learn more.

 

A new book, Changing Lives: Lawyers Fighting for Children, from the American Bar Association, demonstrates the critical role that lawyers play in changing the life courses of our most at-risk children. 

 

 

Share your News and Feedback with CJJ!
CJJ invites you to share news from your SAG, state or region! Please submit items by email to mercier@juvjustice.org. Inclusion and editing of submissions are subject to CJJ editorial guidelines.

The Juvenile Justice 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.

Contact Information
Coalition for Juvenile Justice
1319 F Street NW, Suite 402, Washington, DC 20004
202-467-0864
info@juvjustice.org
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