NCYC Needs Your Help

The decision of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) not to continue funding the National Center for Youth in Custody (NCYC) is a blow to our field. 

Why do we need NCYC?

• No other OJJDP grantee addresses the professional development needs of practitioners (direct care staff, supervisors, and administrators) in juvenile detention, juvenile corrections, or adult facilities working with youthful offenders.
• No other OJJDP grantee addresses improved conditions of confinement in juvenile detention, juvenile corrections or adult facilities working with youthful offenders.
• No other OJJDP grantee uses shared costs and mutual aid to maximize services while minimizing expenses.

Please take a minute to sign our petition. Please share this and have your friends, family, and colleagues sign!   Your support is critical! 

Sign the petition here.

Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) data is now available!

The 2013 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) data is complete and is now available for your viewing.  This survey is provided to youth in the 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grades across the Commonwealth in the fall of every other year.  The data provides valuable information about what our children know, think and believe about problem behaviors such as drug and alcohol use and violence.  It also provides information about the risks faced by youth that can lead to their involvement in problematic behaviors, as well as the protections in their school, communities and families that can serve to buffer them from those risks. During the 2013 administration, nearly 215,000 students in 342 school districts and 81 "other" schools (private/parochial/charter) took part in the survey.

As part of a joint effort by the Department of Education, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, this year survey results are available at the County level for all counties that had at least two school districts take part in the survey.  These County reports can be accessed by going to the PAYS website at http://www.pays.state.pa.us, or click  here to go directly to the County Reports. 54 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties have a county level report posted at that location.

This information is invaluable for planning and prioritization efforts to serve the youth and families of your county, and is an excellent resource when developing the rationale for grant applications.  Please forward this information to child serving programs that you contract with and county agencies.  Both will find this information extremely helpful for planning and when applying for grants.

If you have questions about the survey or need assistance in interpreting the results, please contact the PAYS project leader, Geoff Kolchin, at gkolchin@pa.gov or 717-265-8483.

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Save the Date

The next formal JDCAP Board Membership meeting will be held on June 19, at the CCAP office (2789 Old Post Road, Harrisburg, PA 17110).

Additional Information

Kids for Cash Now Available On Demand and As a Digital Download!

Following a successful nationwide theatrical run, the acclaimed documentary Kids for Cash will be released across all leading Video On Demand and digital platforms today!

Kids for Cash, produced and directed by Robert May, features the work of Juvenile Law Center to uncover and litigate the Luzerne County, PA "kids-for-cash" scandal.

Kids for Cash is available now on the following platforms:

Video On Demand
Comcast, Time Warner, Direct TV, and all other major providers

Digital
iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, XBox Video  and Vudu

We hope you take the opportunity to view this important film.    

Webinar on Using Social Impact Bonds to Improve Juvenile Justice Outcomes

On May 27, 2014, at 1 p.m. ET, the National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) will present "Using Social Impact Bonds To Improve Juvenile Justice Outcomes." This 1-hour Webinar will explore how social impact bonds-private investment to address social programs-can help fund juvenile justice initiatives and improve social outcomes for youth.

Resources:

Register for this free Webinar.

Download NJJN's tip sheet on social impact bonds.

Report Addresses Suspension and Expulsion Patterns in Schools

The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northwest has released "Suspension and Expulsion Patterns in Six Oregon School Districts." This study highlights student exclusionary patterns in urban school districts in Oregon during the 2011-12 school year. The study examines exclusionary discipline by grade, gender, race/ethnicity, and special education status. Key findings include:

• The percentage of students receiving exclusionary discipline was 2.5 times higher for male students than for female students. The percentage was higher for American Indian, Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students.

• The most common reasons for suspension and expulsion were physical and verbal aggression and insubordination/disruption.

• Nearly 40 percent of students who were suspended received more than one suspension.

REL Northwest is part of the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Program funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences.

Resources:

View and download the full report.

New report examines impact of "direct file" statute on youth, public safety (Washington, DC) May 19, 2014 - In 2012, youth in the District of Columbia spent more than 10,000 days - the equivalent of 27 years - in adult jail under a statute that enables federal prosecutors to send DC youth accused of certain crimes to adult court without judicial review, according to a new report released today by DC Lawyers for Youth and the Campaign for Youth Justice. The report cites the inadequate facilities, high risk of victimization, use of solitary confinement, long-term consequences of adult felony convictions, and failure to deter future crime as reasons to reform DC's approach to the prosecution of youth as adults by promoting the rehabilitation of young offenders and improving public safety.

According to the report, Capital City Correction: Reforming DC's Use of Adult Incarceration Against Youth, 541 youth under the age of 18 were detained or incarcerated in adult facilities in DC between 2007 and 2012.  The report shows that the youth who were incarcerated in adult facilities in DC were disproportionately young men of color from low-income communities. While incarcerated in the adult jail, DC youth are housed in a developmentally inappropriate and inadequate facility where they receive limited educational, behavioral health, and vocational services and limited time with their families. According to the report, most of the time that youth spend at the adult jail is prior to trial, when youth are presumed innocent of the offense. 

"The adult system is no place for kids. Youth who are incarcerated in adult facilities are 36 times more likely to commit suicide than their peers in juvenile facilities and are at a greater risk of victimization," said Carmen Daugherty, Policy Director at Campaign for Youth Justice. "Trying youth as adults also jeopardizes public safety as there is no evidence that adult court deters youth crime in general and compelling evidence that it actually increases recidivism among those who are processed through it." DC voters agree.  In a 2008 poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, 77% of DC voters believe youth awaiting trial should be held in a juvenile facility rather than an adult jail, and 71% believe that placing youth in adult facilities is minimally or not at all effective at rehabilitating youth. Additionally, a 2011 national poll revealed that the public strongly favors individualized judicial determinations of whether a youth should be in the adult system rather than the automatic prosecution of youth in adult criminal court.

"Federal prosecutors having unfettered discretion to send our DC kids to the adult jail flies in the face of a smart, balanced, and fair justice system," said R. Daniel Okonkwo, Executive Director at DC Lawyers for Youth and a resident of Ward 6.  "Judges should play a role in reviewing both the alleged facts of the case and the facts of the child to determine whether the youth and public safety would be better served by the rehabilitative goals and services of the juvenile justice system."

The report notes that 23 states, including Virginia and Maryland, have recently taken steps to reduce youth contact with the adult justice system and recommends three policy reforms for DC to promote youth accountability and rehabilitation:

• allow judges to review a youth's case to consider whether it should be moved to juvenile court;

• end "once-an-adult-always-an-adult," which requires that youth previously charged as adults be so in the future, no matter how minor the suspected offense; and

• prohibit holding youth in adult facilities while they are awaiting trial.

DC Lawyers for Youth · 1220 L St NW, Suite 605, Washington, DC 20005, United States