Mission

The mission of the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance is to reduce the number

of children and youth entering the juvenile and criminal justice systems,

and advocate a safe, effective, and fair system for those involved.

Good news to sharewith you this morning:

Overall reforms going on within system over the past ten years have

significantly reduced the size of the system from front end to back end:

EffectivenessAll system referrals down dramatically:

Source: Connecticut Judicial Branch

Average daily population in juvenile detention

Source: Connecticut Judicial Branch

Effectiveness

EffectivenessCommitments to DCF: FWSN • Delinquency

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007

Priorities for 2010Make Connecticut’s juvenile justice system• Effective• Fair

• Provide support and assistance to the newly created LISTs (Local Implementation Service Teams) around the state

Priorities for 2010

Effectiveness• Keep kids out of the adult system• Keep kids who haven’t committed crimes

out of the system (FWSN)• Keep kids in school

Fairness• Ensuring that a child’s race or ethnicity

does not affect how a child is treated

EffectivenessKeep kids out of the adult system.

• 16-year-olds will go to the juvenile justice system in 2010

• 17-year-olds will join the system in 2012

Effectiveness

• Youth recidivate less because they receive services in the juvenile justice system that address the root causes of their behavior.

• They are more likely to succeed in the future, without a permanent adult record and with access to Pell Grants, etc.

• For Raise the Age to be effective, it’s critical to maintain and enhance the services currently offered.

Keep kids out of the adult system.

Effectiveness

Alliance activities for Raise the Age this year:

• Monitor implementation for 16-year-olds• Determine how new policies and

procedures are working for youth and families, police, courts, service providers, schools, etc.

• Problem solve to ensure smooth transition for 17-year-olds in 2012

Keep kids out of the adult system.

Effectiveness

• What can you do about Raise the Age?– The Alliance relies on you to let us know how

new policies and procedures are working for youth and families, police, courts, service providers, schools, etc.

– As the age change affects you and your community call or e-mail us to give with the details.

EffectivenessKeep kids who haven’t

committed crimes out of the system.

Families With Service Needs (FWSN) – “status offenses,” behaviors that tend to lead to delinquent acts:

• Truancy• Running away• Being beyond parental control

None of these offenses is a crime.

EffectivenessKeep kids who haven’t

committed crimes out of the system.

• Families With Service Needs• Philosophy shift: Serve the whole family

EffectivenessKeep kids who haven’t

committed crimes out of the system.

FWSN reform and other moves by the state to divert children from juvenile justice involvement are helping to shrink the juvenile justice system.

Focus on providing services to youth and families before a FWSN situation would lead to court, has also encouraged and increased access to diversion options for youth throughout the system.

How FWSN reform affects the system

EffectivenessKeep kids who haven’t

committed crimes out of the system.

Juvenile justice involvement after successful completion of a FSC program

Family support centers: Immediate comprehensive help for the most high need FWSN cases.

Source: Process and Outcome Evaluation of the 2007-2009 CT FWSN Needs Project: Interim Report. Justice Research Center, Inc.

Effectiveness

Most communities still lack access

to a Family Support Center

Hartford

Waterbury

BridgeportNew Haven

Effectiveness

• Alliance activities and what you can do– If your community does not have a Family

Support Center, let your legislators know you need one!

– Monitor implementation especially as 16-year-olds are included in the FWSN system

– Let us know what’s happening with FWSN in your community

– Reduce the number of youth who are truant

EffectivenessKeep kids in school.

Truancy accounts for about halfof all FWSN cases

EffectivenessKeep kids in school.

“Students should be removed from the school setting only under the most exceptional circumstances...That is why we need policies like this that keep students in school, not at home. Keeping children out of school is a direct line to delinquent behavior. Students get farther behind in their course work. They lose hope of catching up. It’s a recipe for failure.”

– Governor M. Jodi Rell, June 28, 2007

EffectivenessKeep kids in school.

Truancy – What can we do?

•Prevention – brochure for parents•Interventions – look at models that work in districts in CT and around the country and adapt them for use in this district (we’ll help!)

EffectivenessKeep kids in school.

Reduce the use of discipline strategies that remove kids from schools:

out-of-school suspensions/expulsions and arrests

Connecticut Voices for Children postcard

EffectivenessKeep kids in school.

Majority of suspensions in CT are for minor, non-violent offenses

EffectivenessKeep kids in school.

Arrests at schoolChildren are more likely to be arrested in school today, many times for offenses that could be better addressed within the school.

EffectivenessKeep kids in school.

Arrests in school – why more?•Zero tolerance policies•Lack of discipline alternatives•Increased pressures on schools•Lack of clarity regarding police presence/role in schools

EffectivenessKeep kids in school.

Reducing school arrests – what can we do?

•Get the information out – how many kids are arrested in your district and for what offenses?•Give educators the opportunity to use “common sense”•Clearly define the role of police within the schools and ensure all school resource officers have standardized, appropriate training

EffectivenessKeep kids in school.

How Do We Reduce Other Exclusionary Disciplinary Policies?

•CT Voices for Children report•Proactive Discipline strategies•Determine a matrix of disciplinary options tied to various offenses.•Limit the types of offenses/circumstances for which out-of-school consequences are an option.•Ideas that can be explored through your LIST

Effectiveness • Fairness

FairnessAll youth in the juvenile justice system should be treated equally,

regardless of their race or ethnicity.

“Disproportionate Minority Contact” (DMC) = this is not the case. Youth of color are

overrepresented in the juvenile justice system and are treated more harshly there.

Fairness

What states have

Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC)?

Fairness

All of them

FairnessWhy are there more kids of color

in the juvenile justice system?

FairnessWhy are there more kids of color

in the juvenile justice system?

Do kids of color commit more crimethan white kids?

FairnessWhy are there more kids of color

in the juvenile justice system?

Do kids of color commit more crimethan white kids?

NOIn national surveys, including one by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kids of all races and ethnicities self-report committing the same crimes at very similar rates.

Kids of all races and ethnicities do the same things. But we treat kids of color more harshly.

FairnessWhy are there more kids of color

in the juvenile justice system?

Is Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) a result of poverty?

FairnessWhy are there more kids of color

in the juvenile justice system?

Is Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC)a result of poverty?

NOConnecticut studies of DMC looked at how coming from a low-income neighborhood affects treatment. Poverty is a disadvantage, but it does not fully account for the difference in how a kid is treated.

FairnessWhy are there more kids of color

in the juvenile justice system?

Is it simply because there’s more crime in cities, where many of them live?

FairnessWhy are there more kids of color

in the juvenile justice system?

Is it simply because there’s more crime in cities, where many of them live?

NOWe actually see a greater disparity in the treatment of minority youth in rural and suburban Connecticut than in the state’s cities.

FairnessWhere is the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) in Connecticut’s juvenile

justice system?

FairnessWhere is the DMC in Connecticut’s

juvenile justice system?

CT Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee

research by Spectrum Associates

15 “decision points” 7 with Disproportionate Minority Contact

Fairness7 Decision Points WITH Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC):

Black Hispanic White

1. Referred to court

2. Placed in secure holding

3. Taken to detention

4. Released from detention prior to case disposition

5. Transferred to adult court

6. Time spent in CJTS

7. Time spent in non-secure facility

The data covers a sampling of police cases from 2005-2006, juvenile court recordsfrom 2006 and Department of Children and Families records from 2005-2007.

Fairness8 Decision Points WITHOUT Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC):

Black Hispanic White

1. Brought to police station (versus released)

2. Length of time in secure holding

3. Length of time in detention

4. Type of handling (case in front of a judge or probation officer)

5-6. For cases in front of a judge, how many kids were found guilty and what the consequences were for being found guilty (i.e., placement in CJTS, residential, home / on probation)

7. For cases that didn’t go in front of a judge, the outcome (supervision, discharge)

8. Percentage of DCF commitment completed

The data covers a sampling of police cases from 2005-2006, juvenile court recordsfrom 2006 and Department of Children and Families records from 2005-2007.

FairnessDisproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) is something we can change.

Because we know exactly where in the system these problems exist, we can target those decision points and demand accountability and equality.

Fairness

DMC is in everyone’s interest to change.• Offends our shared values of equality /

equal opportunity• Diminishes a child’s long-term chances• Wastes state resources by putting kids

in the system who don’t need to be there

FairnessWhat can we do about Disproportionate Minority Contact?

Build public awareness and Support local efforts:

• Community breakfasts

• Just Start: JJAC public information campaign

www.ctJustStart.org

• Support to LISTs

Effectiveness = Fairness Fairness = Effectiveness

In conclusion, together we are working to:

• Keep children out of the adult system• Advocate for services to help families in

distress• Support programs that keep children in school• Ensure that race and ethnicity are not factors

in how children in the system are treated

Effectiveness • Fairness

• Join our listserv at www.ctjja.org• Become a member of our Facebook

community• Join your LIST • Talk with leaders in your school and

community• See handouts for more information

Questions?

www.ctjja.org