Please Support CJJ with a Tax-Deductible Charitable Gift this Season!

Financial support from our members supports CJJ in giving a voice to the unmet and urgent needs of vulnerable and troubled children, youth, and families, while enhancing community well-being.  As we prepare for the coming year, we would like to take a moment to ask for your support with a year-end, tax-deductible charitable donation.  

2014 has been an exciting and challenging year for us, with many positive, powerful efforts -- none of which would be possible without the financial support of our dedicated friends and allies. Here is an overview of recent successes:

• Hosted the second annual Youth Summit, where more than 100 young people from around the country came together to learn about juvenile justice advocacy.
• Hosted the annual CJJ Spring Conference and Hill Day, bringing together representatives from more than 40 states and territories.
• Released numerous publications as part of the SOS Project including: "Making the Case for Status Offense Systems Change: A Toolkit," "Status Offense Laws: Model Policy Guide," and Exercising Judicial Leadership to Reform the Care of Non-Delinquent Youth: A Convenor's Action Guide for Developing a Multi-Stakeholder Process." 
• Held webinars and trainings for the field on wide-ranging juvenile justice issues including: youth and family engagement, better responses to status offenses, civil citations, and the school-to-prison pipeline.
• Published monthly Federal Legislative Policy Updates for CJJ members.
• Co-chaired the national Act4JJ campaign and led juvenile justice advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill.

Learn more about CJJ's work on our website.

Donate today! For questions, please contact Jessica Russell Murphy at [email protected].   

CJJ Blog on Developmental Competence

Lisa H. Thurau, Executive Director at Strategies for Youth, Inc., and Amanda Petteruti, Senior Research Associate at the Justice Policy Institute wrote a blog post for CJJ Today about the concept of developmental competence. They explain that developmental competence means understanding that an adolescent's behavior is influenced by "biological and psychological factors related to their age" that are universal. 

CJJ Blog on "Improving Outcomes for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System"

Elizabeth Seigle, Policy Analyst at the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, penned a blog post entitled, "Improving Outcomes for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System." In her post, she highlights two new resources from CSG, "Core Principles for Reducing Recidivism and Improving Other Outcomes for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System" and "Measuring and Using Juvenile Recidivism Data to Inform Policy, Practice, and Resource Allocation."

CJJ Executive Director Speaks About Importance of the SAGs

Marie Williams, CJJ's Executive Director, spoke in the Crime Report about new National Academy of Sciences report, "Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role" and how SAGs have a "vital role ... in any proposed reform effort." You can read the full piece here.

SAG News: Farewell to Reg Garff CJJ wishes to congratulate Utah Juvenile Justice Specialist Reg Garff, who was recently named Director of Rural Programs for the Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services. Mr. Garff served as his state's Juvenile Justice Specialist for 13 years, during which time he was a valued member of the CJJ family. Mr. Garff was the 2014 recipient of CJJ's Tony Gobar National Outstanding Juvenile Justice Specialist Award. We wish him luck and know that he will continue to be a valuable asset to the juvenile justice field.

SAG News: Doing Business with the Office of Prevention and Victim Services The Florida State Advisory Group has approved new trainings entitled "Doing Business with the Office of Prevention and Victim Services" in the hopes of eliminating technical barriers that prevent community stakeholders from responding to solicitations. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and Office of Prevention staff, are working in partnership with staff from the Bureau of Contracting and the Bureau of Finance and Accounting to conduct these workshops at various locations throughout Florida. The presentations will provide stakeholders with an introduction to the federal funding stream and contracting processes, Request for Proposals, and properly preparing a response.  For additional information, contact Yvonne Woodard.

SAG News: A Recent History of New Hampshire Disproportionate Minority Contact

During the Fall Quarter of 2011 the State Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice (SAG) retained a Coordinator to address DMC in New Hampshire. At that time the racial and ethnic demographics of the state were perceived to be less than 5%. The Development Services Group of Bethesda, MD confirmed in an independent study that Hillsborough County, New Hampshire is the only county in the nation with a four year declining trend in RRI for any minority group (Hispanic/Latino). To read a full history of New Hampshire's recent efforts on DMC click here. Contact Andrew Smith, New Hampshire's DMC Coordinator, with any questions. 

"Child Trafficking and Juvenile Justice" Webinar Recording

CJJ held the first in a series of webinars about child trafficking and juvenile justice on November 19. Presenters discussed what sex trafficking is, how it impacts its victims, the history of U.S. responses to this complicated problem, and the intersection of trafficking with juvenile and criminal justice, particularly for high risk populations like runaway and homeless youth. You can watch the recording of the webinar here.

SOS Project: "Exercising Judicial Leadership on the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders" Webinar Recording

CJJ held a webinar on November 14 that focused on the content of the recently released publication: "Exercising Judicial Leadership to Reform the Care of Non-Delinquent Youth: A Convenor's Action Guide for Developing a Multi-Stakeholder Process." Webinar presenters focused on how judges can act as convenors and improve outcomes for non-delinquent youth in their communities. They also offered concrete steps judicial leaders and other juvenile justice practitioners can take to convene a multi-stakeholder process and illustrated these actions in practice by sharing their experiences leveraging their roles on the bench to make a difference in the lives of youth and families in need. You can watch the webinar recording here.

SOS Project: ABA Releases New Resource on Truancy The American Bar Association released its latest issue of Children's Rights Litigation. Check out Truancy Lawyering in Status Offense Cases: An Access to Justice Challenge to learn more about the role of lawyers in truancy representation, and how this work might complement broader systemic reform efforts. The article highlights effective advocacy techniques for individual cases, as well as nationally available reform tools, such as those produced by CJJ's SOS Project and the Vera Institute of Justice.

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.
Models for Change: Navigating the Juvenile Justice System Webinar The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice and the Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Collaborative for Change will host a webinar on "Navigating the Juvenile Justice System" on December 4. Presenters will discuss strategies that help families better understand and navigate the juvenile justice system, and access important services. Register here.
Models for Change: National Center for Juvenile Justice releases new Juvenile Court Statistics and New Section of the Juvenile Justice GPS The National Center for Juvenile Justice recently released Juvenile Court Statistics 2011. This report describes trends in delinquency cases processed between 1985 and 2011 and status offense cases handled between 1995 and 2011.

NCJJ also released a new section of the Juvenile Justice GPS-Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics (JJGPS), an online resource funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The website features national and state statistics on state laws and juvenile justice practice to help chart juvenile justice system change. The new systems integration section examines policy and practice for integrating information and services for dual status youth involved in both the child protection and juvenile justice systems. 

NJJN News: New Tip Sheet On Community-Based Supervision

A longstanding and growing body of research shows that pre-trial detention and post-adjudication incarceration for youth can have extremely negative ramifications for the youth's ability to get back on the right track. Community based supervision programs for youth both cost less than confinement and provide increased rehabilitative benefits. NJJN's new tip sheet, "Community-Based Supervision: Increased Safety, Decreased Expenditures," highlights fundamental aspects of successful community-based supervision programs as well as summarizing their average costs-a great tool for practitioners making the case for community-based programs. Download the tip sheet here.

NJJN News: New Resources On Youth Who Commit Sex Offenses

NJJN recently published two resources summarizing knew research on youth who commit sex offenses and how the justice system responds. The first, "Youth Who Commit Sex Offenses," is a helpful research update that debunks many of the myths about youth who commit sex offenses, and points to ways the justice system can more effectively respond to them. The second, "Perils of Registering Youth Who Commit Sex Offenses," provides new and compelling evidence to support the dismantling of youth sex offender registries, citing significant negative consequences for youth and their families, and zero benefits to public safety.

NJJN News: Meet the Fellows
This month NJJN profiled Youth Justice Leadership Institute fellow Chaz Arnett, an assistant public defender in the Juvenile Court Division of Maryland's Office of the Public Defender. Mr. Arnett said, "I realized how many leaders in the youth justice reform world-lawyers, advocates, etc.-had no real experience with or connection to the juvenile justice world. So you have a bunch of people making policy, doing research, writing papers, but they've never represented a kid in court, or been to a detention center, or sat with a family as they somberly wept and watched their child being shackled. That bothered me, and that's what led me to want to gain experience in juvenile defense." Read the full interview here.

Tribute to Ladine Daniels, Jr.  Ladine Daniels, Jr., a CJJ youth member, passed away earlier this month from a medical condition. He attended the CJJ Youth Summit this year and impressed all of CJJ's staff and partners with his enthusiastic participation. He also contributed to Act4JJ's 40 for 40th video project and was a member of the National Council of Young Leaders. He graduated at the top of his class at the Sustainability Institute's Pathways to a Green Economy, was a crew leader and mentor for the Institute's Energy Conservation Corps, and a 2012 Corps Network Member of the Year. You can watch the National Council's tribute video to Mr. Daniels on their website. We want to send our condolences to all of his friends and family; he will be sorely missed.

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JBS International and the Georgetown University National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health released a new tool on Trauma Informed Care. 

The U.S. Department of Justice's National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice will expand opportunities for youth.

OJJDP's "Smart on Juvenile Justice" awards will promote systemwide reform and reduce racial and ethnic disparities.

The Urban Institute released new research on labor trafficking.

Register today for 6th International Juvenile Justice Observatory International Conference on Juvenile Justice: "Making Deprivation of Children's Liberty a Last Resort: Towards Evidence-Based Policies on Alternatives."

The John Howard Association has completed a new report, In Their Own Words, that chronicles six young serious offenders' journey through Illinois' criminal justice system, from arrest to incarceration.

Using comprehensive data from kidsdata.org, the Chronicle of Social Change recently examined the racial breakdown of juvenile felony arrest rates across California from 1998 - 2012. Read more.

The Stoneleigh Foundation will award fellowships to accomplished individuals who are developing and testing new approaches that have the potential to improve the lives of vulnerable children and youth. 

The Project on Addressing Prison Rape at the Washington College of Law released a new graphic novel for male youthful inmates and discusses their exposure to sexual abuse in an adult correctional settings.

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