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Articles tagged with: National Juvenile Justice And Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC)

NJJDC: Promoting Safe Communities; Recommendations to the Administration

Marcy Mistrett Wednesday, 01 July 2015 Posted in 2015, Federal Update

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Today the National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC) released, “Promoting Safe Communities; Recommendations to the Administration,” a bi-annual call to action for the federal government to use it’s leadership to end the inhumane practices used against youth in contact with the law. 
 
Despite significant reforms over the past decade to reduce youth incarceration and out-of-home placements, there are still far too many youth being locked up in our juvenile and criminal justice systems. Despite falling crime rates and a 45% decrease in youth arrests over the past decade, the United States still arrests more than 600,000 youth a year, the vast majority of whom could be more effectively treated in community-based settings.  Each year, we incarcerate 55,000 children in state prisons, most who are there for non-violent crimes.  An additional 250,000 youth are prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system annually; and on any given night more than 6,000 youth are held in adult jails and prisons.
 
With strong federal leadership, the pace of juvenile justice reforms can be accelerated.  Research over the past 25 years has increased our understanding of what works and how to best approach juvenile delinquency and system reform.  Many jurisdictions across the country are implementing promising reforms, and there is an increasingly clear path for moving toward community and evidence-based approaches to reducing adolescent crime. 
 
In its final 18 months in office, the Administration has the opportunity and responsibility to support effective systems of justice for our youth and should begin by focusing on the following five priority areas: Restore Federal Leadership in Juvenile Justice Policy; Support and Prioritize Prevention, Early Intervention, and 
Diversion Strategies; Ensure Safety and Fairness for Court-Involved Youth; Remove Youth from the Adult Criminal Justice System; Support Youth Reentry.
 
In a moment of  bi-partisan agreement that our juvenile and criminal justice systems are inhumane, ineffective and costly, it is time for the Administration to take action on behalf of our nation’s youth. 

Advocates Gather to Discuss the History and Importance of Landmark JJDPA Legislation

Friday, 18 October 2013 Posted in 2013, Federal Update

 

By Jill Ward

Yesterday, advocates from the National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition and related ACT4JJ Campaigngathered to learn more about the history of the landmark federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and why it is still important today.

Mark Soler
The day opened with Mark Soler from the Center for Children’s Law and Policy talking about the estimated 500,000 children that were being held in adult jails across the country in the early 1970s.  A majority of these children were either status offenders who were being picked up for non-criminal offenses like truancy, breaking curfew, and running away from home, or youth detained for very minor, non-violent offenses. 

Take the story of a 15-year-old girl who was held in an upstairs cell in a county jail who hanged herself; or the story of a 17-year-old boy who was held in adult prison for not paying $73 in traffic tickets and was beaten over a 14-hour period and finally murdered by others in the cell; or the story of a 13-year-old boy in Maine who was detained for stealing a dirt bike and was raped in the same cell..  And the list went on.

Understanding that this needed to change, in 1974, as part of the JJDPA, Congress prohibited placing these youth in secure facilities and also called for young people in the juvenile system to have “sight and sound” separation from adults in the criminal justice system.  These protections reflected increasing tragedies involving young people being held in adult jails and with adult inmates. In 1980, Congress added a further protection calling for youth in the juvenile justice system to be removed entirely from adult jails and lock-ups with very limited exceptions.

While judges in many states are effectively and proactively addressing the needs of these youth without resorting to detention, too many young people are still unnecessarily finding their way into the juvenile justice system.

 

Liz Ryan, Marc Schindler, and Jill Ward   
Through a reauthorization of the JJDPA, Congress can strengthen the core protections by eliminating the Valid Court Order (VCO) exception, that has allowed status offenders to continue to be locked up for their second and subsequent offenses, to keep all status offenders out of jails and other secure facilities and direct them toward community-based alternatives.  A reauthorization can also further strengthen the sight and sound and removal protections to ensure that no young person under age 18 is held in adult facilities or has contact with adult inmates. 

We also heard from former Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Administrator, John Wilson, who talked about how the agency evolved and worked to implement the JJDPA.  Attendees heard about the strong partnership between Congress and the Administration that existed in the 1970s and into the 1980s to enact the law and work on subsequent reauthorizations. 

Over lunch Bobby Vassar, former House Judiciary Committee Counsel, talked about attempts in the 1990s to amend the law to further criminalize youth and roll back JJDPA core protections for children and how those efforts were defeated.
The day ended with a discussion about the important role of the NJJDP Coalition and advocates across the country to continue to educate the public and key policymakers about how the law has helped protect children involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems and supported state efforts to prevent youth crime and reduce recidivism.  What was clear from the day is that the JJDPA remains a critical tool to incentivize states to keep system-involved youth safe and help them more appropriately meet the needs of youth in crisis.

Currently, the JJDPA is more than 5 years overdue for reauthorization and funding levels continue to decline.  We can’t afford to turn the clock back on the advances made by the JJDPA.  Youth Justice Awareness Month (YJAM) is the perfect time to let your federal leaders know that the JJDPA matters and deserves their support.

Please visit the JJDPA Matters Action Center to contact your Senators and Representative and let them know the JJDPA matters to you!

To learn more about the JJDPA and the campaign to reauthorize and fund the law go to:  http://www.act4jj.org/

 

 

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National Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC) Releases "Promoting Safe Communities" Report and Recommendations to Congress

Wednesday, 13 March 2013 Posted in 2013, Federal Update, Take Action Now

Today, the National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC), a Coalition comprising more than 300 national, state, and local organizations working together to ensure healthy families, build strong communities, and improve community safety and well-being, released "Promoting Safe Communities: Recommendations to the Congress".

The report calls on Congress to support effective systems of justice for our youth by focusing on the following five priority areas:

  1. Restore Federal Leadership in Juvenile Justice Policy
  2. Support and Prioritize Prevention, Early Intervention, and Diversion Strategies
  3. Ensure Safety and Fairness for Court-Involved Youth
  4. Remove Youth from the Adult Criminal Justice System
  5. Support Youth Reentry

"The juvenile justice system across the U.S. is in urgent need of reform, and federal leadership is necessary to advance the pace of change. Congress has the unique opportunity to reverse this trend and promote and support evidence-based practices and policies that prevent delinquency, "said Liz Ryan, CEO and Founder of the Campaign for Youth Justice. "It is our hope that the 113th Congress accepts these proposed recommendations to create better outcomes for our youth, as well as our communities."

NJJDPC comprises more than 300 national, state and local organizations working together to ensure healthy families, build strong communities, and improve community safety and well-being.

To take action in your state:

  1. Email this full report to your members of Congress with a note asking them to support these recommendations.
  2. Share this document and the NJJDPC website, promotesafecommunities, on your Facebook page or Twitter feed.

New Web Resource to “Promote Safe Communities”

Wednesday, 16 January 2013 Posted in 2013, Across the Country


The National Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC) is pleased to announce a new web resource “Promote Safe Communities” available at: http://www.promotesafecommunities.org/.  The National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC) is a collaborative array of youth- and family- serving, social justice, law enforcement, corrections, and faith-based organizations, working to ensure healthy families, build strong communities and improve public safety by promoting fair and effective policies, practices and programs for youth involved or at risk of becoming involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

The website features:


Please post a link to your website in the comments field, and check the website often for action alerts, news updates, and upcoming meeting notices to stay involved with the work of the NJJDPC!

We appreciate your sharing this new resource with your networks!