Smart, Safe and Fair: Strategies to Prevent Youth Violence, Heal Victims of Crime and Reduce Racial Inequality from the Justice Policy Institute and the National Center for Victims of Crime explores how to build more effective approaches to serve youth involved in a violent crime in the community, concluding that “in order to truly reduce […]
Youth in contact with the juvenile justice system encounter significant barriers trying to earn their high school diplomas while detained in youth prisons. The R.J. v. Jones consent decree, a case filed by the ACLU in 2012 aimed at improving conditions and services for young people detained in Illinois juvenile justice facilities, is helping to
NPR Illinois: Online Learning Can Open Doors For Kids In Juvenile Jails Read Full Article »
Reentry Starts Here: A Guide for Youth in Long-Term Juvenile Corrections and Treatment Programs from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a resource to help young people in juvenile corrections and treatment programs prepare for reentry and success in the community. The guide includes steps youth can take to plan for reentry
Girls Matter: Centering Gender in Status Offense Reform Efforts from Vera Institute is a comprehensive guide calling for a focus on girls in juvenile justice reform efforts which have often been centered around the needs of boys. The report emphasizes the importance of focusing on “structural equity,” which would include a systemwide commitment to developing
New Report from Vera Institute Calls for Focus on Girls in Reform Efforts Read Full Article »
A new study published in Pediatrics found that young adults who had a parent incarcerated during their childhood are more likely to skip needed health care, smoke cigarettes, engage in risky sexual behaviors, and abuse alcohol, prescription and illicit drugs. These findings have a potentially broad impact, as over five million U.S. children have had
New Study Shines a Light on the Impacts of Parental Incarceration on Children Read Full Article »
The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority released The Intersection of Homelessness and the Criminal Justice System, an overview of state and national homelessness including prevalence and causes of homelessness, criminal justice system contacts with the homeless and recommendations to address homelessness with a focus on justice-involved populations. The report concludes that justice system stakeholders can
After a ProPublica story uncovered that youth detained at the Harrisburg facility were given adult prison sentences for offenses previously addressed internally, a group of attorneys plan to represent those youth charged with assaulting staff at the southern Illinois youth prison.
Attorneys to Defend Growing Number of Youth Charged in Harrisburg Read Full Article »
The Annie E. Casey Foundation presents its vision for transforming juvenile probation into a focused intervention that promotes personal growth, positive behavior change and long-term success for youth who pose significant risks for serious offending in this new report.
Transforming Juvenile Probation from the Annie E. Casey Foundation Read Full Article »
The Juvenile Justice Initiative’s April 2018 report, “Detention of Juveniles in Illinois,” examines the current use of juvenile detention across the state, reviews research on the impacts of juvenile detention, examines local and national best practices in Illinois and makes recommendations. Recommendations include: Require that juvenile judges and law enforcement exhaust all less restrictive alternatives
A recent investigative story by the Chicago Reporter reminds us that despite the progress our state has made, we have taken a detour down a dangerous path.
