Dr. Chan Hellman, leading researcher in the power of hope to improve lives of impoverished children and families who have experienced abuse and neglect, Justice Dawn Beam, and Christopher Freeze, co-chair of Mississippi ACEs Connection , on day three of presentations by Hellman to judges and staff members of Mississippi's Youth Courts. “Hope is a better predictor of college success than the ACT or the SAT score” was one of the startling comments made by Chan Hellman, Ph.D., in the first of...

By The Council of State Governments Justice Center, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, March 29, 2021 In This Report, You’ll Learn An overview of the research methodology used. How juvenile justice involvement can carry lifelong consequences. How state policies are blocking people with juvenile justice involvement from opportunity. Advice for lawmakers on removing these barriers to opportunity. Summary This report — which can be downloaded or viewed online — explores how barriers to education...

By Tyler Evains, Daily Breeze, December 11, 2019 The meeting began with a moment of silence to remember the six people who were killed in a New Jersey shooting. The country’s latest episode of mass gun violence occurred just hours before nearly 50 students and community members met Tuesday night, Dec. 10, at Banning High School in Wilmington for a town hall to discuss that very issue. Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson, hosted the meeting to inform potential policies, programs and funding...

A corner of the Multi-Sensory De-escalation Room, All MSDR photos courtesy of Valerie Clark When a young person enters the de-escalation room in the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility , they’ll find dimmed lights, bottles of lavender, orange and other essential oils, an audio menu featuring the rush of ocean waves and other calming sounds, along with squeeze balls, TheraPutty, jigsaw puzzles, and an exercise ball to bounce on. TheraPutty, squeeze balls and more Sometimes, with a...

Over the past few years, statistics on how the U.S. justice system is failing its citizens have come fast and hard. With more than 2 million people detained in jails and prisons, we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world—a rate that’s increased 500% in the past five decades Possibly as many as 482,000 people currently held in local jails are there simply because they’re too poor to pay bail; they haven’t been convicted of a crime. African Americans are three times more likely to...

By The Annie E. Casey Foundation, March 8, 2021 A year after the coronavirus pandemic began, the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds that a historic drop in the size of the youth detention population at the beginning of 2020 did nothing to reduce the already huge racial and ethnic disparities in who gets detained, despite the health concerns of confinement during the pandemic and a national reckoning about racial justice. In fact, the overrepresentation of Black and Latino youth in detention was...

By Patricia K. Kerig, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, March 10, 2021 The well-established finding that a majority of youth in the juvenile justice system have been exposed to trauma has led to a clarion call for the implementation of trauma-informed practices . However, to date, less attention has been paid to the importance of providing juvenile justice staff with the tools needed to carry out trauma-informed practices in ways that protect them from the potential risks associated...

By Taylor Walker, WitnessLA, February 22, 2021 On Tuesday, June 4, 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted in favor of legislation to shutter the local juvenile hall by December 2021. The ordinance, which SF supes authored in partnership with the Young Women’s Freedom Center (YWFC), made SF the first major urban jurisdiction to choose to abolish juvenile incarceration. The city-county’s lone 150-bed youth lockup is already so close to empty — on August 15, 2020, there were 13...

By Jane Guttman, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, February 15, 2021 “ Always Running” is a book that I recommend to everyone. It is one of the best books written by Luis J. Rodriguez and for many years was on the banned book lists throughout the country. When I arrived at the juvenile court school library, it was off the banned list and one of the most sought-after reads. I brought it to book club on many occasions. It was originally banned and taken out of public and school libraries...

By Associated Press, KEZI, February 6, 2021 During the 2021 legislative session, Oregon lawmakers, are discussing and considering a proposed bill that, if passed, would eliminate fees and court costs associated with juvenile delinquency matters. The fees being discussed include court appointed council, applying for court appointed council, financial penalties for unpaid fees, electronic monitoring, probation supervision and detention fees, explained Amy Miller, the executive director at...

Did you miss our talk on Transforming Correctional Design for Justice Reform? Based in the irrefutable facts of the biological effects of trauma, this talk is now available for you to stream!

By Sarah Malik, Chalkbeat, February 4, 2021 My family has always emphasized the importance of education. All three of my aunts are teachers, and my father has helped me with my schoolwork throughout my life. My dad enrolled me in a prep course for Hunter College High School’s admission test. The school, which is run by New York City’s university system and whose seats are highly sought after, serves students in grades 7-12. When I was 12 years old, I passed the admissions test and entered...