FORUM 2020: A VISION FOR TRANSFORMING JUSTICE
2020 has been a year of pandemics, of uprisings, of tackling racism head on and planting seeds of transformation. To that end, we at NJJN aimed to cultivate content highlighting our members’ work across the country to deconstruct the systems … Continued
REDUCING YOUTH ARRESTS DIVERSION
PREVENTION AND PRE-ARREST DIVERSION: AN NJJN POLICY PLATFORM INFORMED BY YOUNG JUSTICE LEADERS From the National Juvenile Justice Network. Read the document HERE
Black Lives Matter: Eliminating Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System
What is Black Lives Matter? Black Lives Matter is a global organization whose mission is to dismantle white supremacy and bring awareness and change into the local systems (ex. police) that continuously affect Black communities. The organization also focuses on … Continued
NJ Silent Mental Health Crisis & The School To Prison Pipeline – Advocates for Children of New Jersey & NJPC
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Familes’ Coalition of Justice Involved Youth
Open to parents, caregivers, and family of youth involved in the justice system interested in reforming the juvenile justice system in New Jersey. Registration is recommended, as food will be served. Learn More…
Youth Justice Action Month is Here!
On October 1, YJAM (Youth Justice Action Month) begins again. Since 2008, youth justice advocates around the country have come together to organize events and online activities to raise awareness and inspire action on behalf of young people impacted by … Continued
Alternatives to Adult Incarceration For Youth
WASHINGTON (April 17, 2019) — In an effort to identify alternatives to adult incarceration for youth, the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) is learning from stakeholders across the country about their efforts to serve youth charged as adults across a continuum … Continued
New Report Questions New Jersey’s Juvenile Justice System / NJTV New
By Erin DelmoreCorrespondent “Youth prisons are failing our children in this state, but particularly our children of color,” explained Andrea McChristian from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. If you take a look inside New Jersey’s juvenile justice system you’ll … Continued
The Incarceration of Children and Youth in New Jersey’s Adult Prison System
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Getting to Zero
WASHINGTON (Aug. 28, 2018) — With adult jails housing an increasing number of state prisoners, and the population within juvenile detention facilities shrinking, now is the time to reassess the way youth prosecuted as adults are incarcerated in America. An overwhelming … Continued
NJPC New Jersey Youth Justice Initiative (NJYJI)
NJPC New Jersey Youth Justice Initiative (NJYJI) is a grassroots family and youth-driven justice program, which seeks to improve outcomes for justice-involved youth and ensure leadership opportunities for youth and family members on all levels of decision making. NJYJI represents … Continued
Am I Going to Die in Prison?
By Jamal Lewis, New Jersey Parents’ Caucus “Am I going to die in prison?” I was arrested and charged with committing my offenses at the age of 16. I was transferred into the adult criminal justice system at the age … Continued
NEW GUIDE PREPARES JUVENILE OFFENDERS FOR REENTRY
Office of Justice Programs sent this bulletin at 07/30/2018 08:00 AM EDT NEW GUIDE PREPARES JUVENILE OFFENDERS FOR REENTRY WASHINGTON – The Office of Justice Programs’ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention today released Reentry Starts Here: A Guide … Continued
2017 NJJN Member Youth Justice Advances
In 2017, NJJN members were at the forefront of advancing major youth justice reforms in states and localities around the country. In this snapshot, we highlight a sampling of primarily legislative initiatives that were signed into law in 2017 and … Continued
Teens With Mental Disabilities Held in Solitary For Up to 23 Hours
It happened in New Jersey and is happening in Contra Costa County, in the San Francisco Bay Area. A class action lawsuit was filed in August 2013 by Berkeley-based Disability Rights Advocates, on behalf of a teenage girl and two … Continued
Dr. Peter Langman offers a website and free public resource
Dr. Peter Langman offers a website and free public resource containing over 400 documents (totaling about 57,000 pages) relating to school shootings, school shooters and the prevention of rampage attacks HERE.
Dr. Peter Langman offers a website and free public resource
OVC is pleased to announce the release of the 2017 National Crime Victims Rights Week (NCVRW) Resource Guide. NCVRW will be commemorated April 28, 2017, and the resource guide promotes this year’s theme, ”Strength. Resilience. Justice.The Guide provides all the materials … Continued
Juvenile Justice System Leaders and Families Agree on a Family-driven Approach to Juvenile Justic
WASHINGTON (May 6, 2013) – Today the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), an advocacy organization dedicated to ending the practice of trying, sentencing, and incarcerating youth under 18 in the adult criminal justice system, released a new report, Family Comes … Continued
Justice Denied: One Young Person’s Story
NJPC Youth Coalition Member D.M. writes about his life in New Jersey’s mental health, child welfare and juvenile justice system. Read the entire article HERE.
Most States Still House Some Youth in Adult Prisons, Report Says
WASHINGTON – Most states continue to house youth in adult prisons, putting them at risk for physical and sexual abuse, says a new report. But as the number of youth in both juvenile and adult facilities decrease, states have the … Continued
Coordinating Access to Services for Justice-Involved Populations
States that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act have unprecedented opportunities to connect adults released from prison or jail with needed physical and behavioral health services and social supports. This population – disproportionately male, minority, and poor – … Continued
LOCKED OUT: Improving Educational and Vocational Outcomes for Incarcerated Youth
This issue brief highlights the key findings of a national survey conducted in partnership with the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators of all 50 state agencies, to better understand the extent states are currently providing incarcerated youth with access to … Continued
New Jersey Bill to Reform Youth Transfer, Waiver and Confinement Policies
he Bill will raise the age of adult court waiver, eliminate disciplinary confinement in the juvenile justice system, and ensure due process before youth can be transferred from juvenile to adult facilities. Read more HERE.
Childhood Interrupted
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2015 State Legislative Sessions
An Update on Nationwide Juvenile Justice Reforms to Protect Youth from the Adult Criminal Justice System In New Jersey, the Governor recently signed Senate Bill 2003. This bill includes numerous provisions that drastically improve juvenile justice in New Jersey. First, this … Continued
The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015
This legislation was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin. Among other provisions, it would: end juvenile life without parole in the federal justice system by … Continued
Pipeline to Prison: How the Juvenile Justice System Fails Special Education Students
A special education student, Jennings qualified for extra help in school. Those services should have carried over to the justice system, but Jennings said he never even attended class while in jail. Now 20, he is still unable to read … Continued
Senate Judiciary Committee Approves JJDPA Update
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan bill that aims to strengthen protections for youth who enter the criminal justice system cleared a key congressional committee today. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved by voice vote the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization … Continued
LOCAL ADVOCATE WINS PRESTIGIOUS FELLOWSHIP IN YOUTH JUSTICE
Fellowship Develops Emerging Professionals of Color in Juvenile Justice Reform (Elizabeth, N.J) Kathy Wright, Executive Director of the New Jersey Parent’s Caucus, has been chosen to be a fellow in the Youth Justice Leadership Institute. The Institute is a prestigious … Continued
Engaging Law Enforcement on Youth Justice Reform
What are some areas where youth justice advocates can work with law enforcement leaders to increase fairness and promote “Engaging Law Enforcement on Youth Justice Reform,” which focuses on some of the best starting points for collaborative work on reform. NOTE: … Continued
‘Mad Mom’ Gets Significant Juvenile Court Win:
Experienced lawyers thought Christene Wood was out of her mind when she mounted an appellate challenge to a juvenile certification decision—a process that allows children as young as 14 to be tried as adults for felony offenses. Read more:
BILL WOULD REAUTHORIZE JJDPA & EXTEND ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS TO YOUTH IN JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM
Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced a bill that aims to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), our country’s broadest federal juvenile justice law. The measure, which was first enacted 40 years ago–and … Continued
$400K awarded to settle lawsuit over solitary confinement of 2 N.J. boys
Mentally Ill juvenile was kept in isolation for at least 178 of the 225 days he was in the custody of the justice commission, the suit claimed. At one point, he was locked in his cell for 22 consecutive days, … Continued
Juvenile Justice Schools Do More Harm Than Good, Study Finds
Education programs in juvenile justice systems across the United States are not providing incarcerated youth with the skills and education they need to reenter school and society, a report from the Southern Education Foundation finds. The report,Just Learning: The Imperative to Transform … Continued
Bipartisan consensus on strengthening federal law to reduce incarceration, make state juvenile justice systems more fair, improve public safety
Youth, family and juvenile justice advocates endorse reintroduction of bill to support states efforts to improve their juvenile justice systems, protect kids, and build safer communities WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 30, 2015) – Juvenile justice advocates across the country applaud Senator Charles … Continued
Baltimore Sun Editorial on Youth Promise Act: Breaking a vicious cycle [Editorial]
Our view: Congress can begin to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline by approving the Youth Promise Act this year 3:36 p.m. EDT, July 11, 2014 For far too many young people who get caught up in the criminal justice system, an … Continued
How to Expunge Your Criminal and/or Juvenile Record
Download the 34 page package with detailed instructions from the New Jersey Judiciary “How to Expunge Your Criminal and/or Juvenile Record” HERE.
Annie E. Casey Foundation Calls for the Closing of Youth Prisons
Identifying youth prisons as “inhumane, ineffective, wasteful factories of failure,” Annie E. Casey Foundation President and CEO Patrick McCarthy calls for the closing of these institutions. During a recent TEDx talk to an audience of governors and legislators, McCarthy pledged … Continued
Grassley Lists Juvenile Justice As a Top Priority-JJIE
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, lists juvenile justice among his top legislative priorities, heartening juvenile justice advocates. Beth Levine, Grassley’s press secretary, told JJIE Tuesday that he considered juvenile justice one of several … Continued
OJJDP – The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Releases Fall 2013 issue of “Journal of Juvenile Justice.”
The Fall 2013 issue of “Journal of Juvenile Justice” features articles that focus on early diversion and assessment to screen youth out of the juvenile justice system, the lack of research on teen courts and recidivism, the effectiveness of intervention programs and … Continued
This is what happens when you lock children in solitary confinement -Mother Jones
One night in Match 2013, a 17-year-old named Kenny was walking with a friend through farm country in Reilly Township, Ohio. The boys had been drinking and were checking car doors in the hope of finding a little money when … Continued
Sure, People Are Talking About Prison Reform, but They Aren’t Actually Doing Anything. – Marshall Project
In 1987, 21-year-old Paul Wright entered a maximum-security prison in Washington state for first-degree murder. Wright, then a military police officer, was incarcerated after he attempted to rob a cocaine dealer by the name of Curtis Smith. During the hold-up, … Continued
Justice for Families Report “Families Unlocking Futures: Solutions to the Crisis in Juvenile Justice”
The report offers first-of-its kind analysis that details how the juvenile justice system does more to feed the nation’s vast prison system than to deter or redirect young people from system involvement; and demonstrates the incredible damage the system causes … Continued
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Report – Family Listening Sessions: Executive Summary
In July 2013, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) released content from four listening sessions conducted throughout 2011 with families who had direct contact with the juvenile justice system. The report relays key comments and highlights from … Continued
Failed Policies, Forfeited Futures: A Nationwide Scorecard on Juvenile Records
In a new publication, the Juvenile Law Center shares its findings that the vast majority of states are failing to protec highly sensitive information contained in juvenile court records, creating barriers to education, employment and success for American youth. Failed Policies, … Continued