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The idea of hauling young offenders into court — and hoping lockup will change them — no longer appeals to a host of experts who work in the juvenile criminal justice system. But it’s not always easy for law enforcement, probation officers and even defense attorneys to know what they can do differently to deter kids who are at risk of becoming adult offenders.

When you bring a couple hundred good people together on a Friday in downtown Chicago, you can expect a party to break out. But if those people also happen to be juvenile justice policy wonks, the party becomes a symposium, and some work gets done.

A proposal to return first-time, nonviolent 17-year-old offenders to the juvenile justice system has broader bipartisan support than in the past but faces opposition from the state’s top law enforcement officer.

The Illinois Youth Center – Kewanee, one of six juvenile detention facilities in the state, has since at least 2000 housed male youth with the greatest mental health needs. But the Kewanee facility has experienced difficulties for that entire time in finding adequate staff, in part due to its remote location, about two hours west of Chicago and away from major universities.

In 1980, Henry Hill was convicted of murdering a man in a Saginaw, Mich., park and sentenced to life in prison without parole, the mandatory sentence for the crime. He was 16 years old and functionally illiterate.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Clarke, president of the Illinois-based Juvenile Justice Initiative, was recognized recently for her tenacious work on behalf of young people in trouble with the law. Clarke is the second recipient of the Beth Arnovits Gutsy Advocate for Youth Award, which is given annually by the National Juvenile Justice Network to individuals who advocate for youth justice and juvenile justice reform and who embody "the tenacity, vision, fearlessness and wisdom of Beth Arnovits."