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Ilealtly Fanrilies snd Com maniti*s Sub com rnitt*e,u'$. Houss of Representstiyes Edueation nnd t*bor committee

joint hearing with th*Crime, Terrsri*m nnd lIamel*nd $ecr:rity Subcammittee

U"S. Xouse of R*presentadiv*s Judici*ry Committee

The Juvenile Justice *nd Deliuquency freveution ,A,ct:Overview and Ferspec*ive*

2175 R*ybum II.O"B"July l?,l0ST: ?rtXl pm

Testimcrry by the Honorable paul LawreaccGoffstown Oistrict Court

New Hampshire State Juvenile Justice Adviscry GroupGaffstown, New Hampshire

Gotd afternoon. It is my distinsl honor to have been asked by Chairwsman McCarthy tospeak oa behalf of the Juvenile Justicc and Delinqusnsy Prevention Ast (JJFFA).

I am Paul Lawrence, the Presid.ing Justice cf th* Solfstown Distnct Ccurf in Goffstown,New Hampshire where I hear, a:no$g other things, juvenile delinquency, CHIN$, andneglect and abuse cases. I am also Immediare P:rst Chair of the Coalitjon fo: JuvenilsJustice (CJJ), th* national leadership associatian of Stats Advi*ory Groups undsr thgJJDP Act. I am Ca-Chair of the New l:tampshire Juvenile Ilexenticn AltemativesInitiative, past Chair of the state'$ the Committee to Sardy the Estabtishmrnt ofDispositiqnal S*idelines in Juvenile Selinquency Cases and a member of the NewHampshire Supreme Court's Judicial Edircatisn $ervic*s Committee. Alsa of relevnnreto todey"$ hearir:g is my membsxhip in the National Cou*crl of Juvenile nr:d FamilvCourt Judges.

I began heanng juvenile cases i$ i9?9 with a belief that the greatest cure far delinquencyis maturaticn- At *rat time, beforc techrralogy provided images of the br*.in that allow us[o see its gradual development extc*ding wel] iato the mid-2Os, it was cl*ar tc me that r]reneed;, thouglrts" motivations and behavror cf youth ditTer greatly from thr:se af fullyfi*.turs adults' Now, advancemc*ts in neure*intagery" such as Functional Magnetic

The Honorable Pa:rl l-avrlenceJrr1y 12" 200?

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Resonanc* }naging {fl\dR$, coupled with targetcd ressarch, enable us to take a look *t

the actual physical devclopment aad transformation sf the brair: at ail stages of life.

ftring adolescence, several areas of the brain go thrauglr their final developmental

stages and develop greater compl*xity, which i* tum aff*cts thiaking, behavior and

potenlial for learning and rchabilitation.i

Judges on the juvenile bench po$ssss considerable power *ver fhe life pathways of young

people and their faurilies*particularly thos* that are vulnerable" troubled and ftagilc.

Given this power what judges do may prave productive and h€ipful, or regrettablp cause

unintended hanrt. Every time a judge shepherd's a youug person through the juvenile

;ustice system, helshe must be certain that ait steps have beea taken to enhance the

youth's eompetencies befare imposition of predominantly retrib,ntive mes.$ures. In fact, if

judges***s weli as congressionai and federal decision maker*-are to do what is begt for

*hildren and youth involved in the eourts we would rnake * primary commitment in

juverile justice much like the Hippocratic Oath:frst, da no harm. Includ*d in such a

Eommitnenl wsuld be the following precepts, ail sf which are parl of the ariginal

thinking that *nderlies the JJIP Act:

We should strive to keep children and youth pg! of,the courl syste$: and o*t of

institutional settings-*parliqularly lockups; and whenever possible at home or

close to hsme" school and community;

We should do everything porsible to ensure that any and all court invalvement byyouth and farrilies is appropriately limited in scope and *ffective in prcducirrg

healthy oulcomes for the invslved youth;

we must ensure age-appropriate sanctions and supports and court scrvices, as

well as systvms thaf treat childrerr and ycuth in ways that are based on the best of

wluit we know about adolescent development, brain science and pnnciples ofyouth development"

Th* Honsgbie Paul LawrsuccJuly l?, ?007

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on lxue 1li ?00?, I heard Dr- Laurencs stei$berg of Ternple universify and Director ofths MacArthw Re*earch Netrvork on Adolescenl b*velopment and Juver-rile Justice,speak at the Coalition fcr Juvenile Juetice $ummit on t}re JJDp Act. He cited severalimplicaticns of his Network"s research which are worthy of cansid.era*an in thereauthoriaation of the JJDF Act.

Fjrst" differsnt brain capacities mature along different timetables:Competenc**related abilities m*tue by age lS;Yet, c*pacities relevant to dccisions about crimind culpabili:y are still ;nan:nnginto ysung adulthood.

Second, adolescents are rss'p$trsible fur their behavior, but nst ds rcspoasible as adults:Self*control is still developing and easily disrupted by emotionally ar sociallyarousing sifuahons;

And' adolescents need. suppor! structr-*E and adurt supervisionThird, adolsecsnts are still works in progress:

Most will mature out of r*ckless and impetuous bchaviar by their early 30swithout any int*rvcnlion;

So" it is vitally important thst involvement with juvenile justice systsm not dsrajltheir transition into produotiv* adulthood.ii

Adolescelt brain developrnent science und.erscores &* missian of the court, as a helpinghand for youth and families designcd to help them heal and build their snengrhs andmears to contribute to eqeiety. It highlights how critical thc *ore protectior:s of the JJDPAet indeed are in keeping status offenrling and non*criminal y*uth out of jock*ups andplacing clear restrictions on placing children and. youth in ad.ult jails, as well as ensuringthat we do not needlessly sweep children of color inta the juvenjle jusfic* $ystem becaussof systemic and soeietal racism.

Furthermore, the JJDF Act can be improved based on the best of what we now know, bydirecting Title II (stare Formula Funds) and Title v { St*e and Local prevsntisn Funds)1o prograrns that prevent repeated systear involvcment anel show excellent resujts in

The }lonorable Far"d LawrenccJuly l?,2007

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restoring young people to productive hame and commurrity life" $uch as *ltErnatives topre-adj udic ation detention, rcstorative j ustice and graduated s anctions.

Altsrn etipss to fr etention

Nationw'ide, the youth confined in prc-triaUpre-adjudicative detentio:t include an

alarmingly high census of fragile you& with scrious emotional, behavioral ar:.d substance

abuse issues, and youth of color.iii The number of youth who resid.e in detention centsrs

or an avcragc day is estimated to be more than 27,000, and has grown 72 percent since

the e&rly 1990s-*despite d.eclines in juvenite o{fonding. It is estimated that as marry as

600,000 children and tixns cycle through secure detention each year.'"

My colleaguE" Bart Lubow, who directs the Juvenile Iletentios Altcrnatives Initiative for

the A::nie E. Casey Foundation, reports, '"Slhen you talk to judges- Ixo$ecutors, or slherjuvenile justice professionals, many of them say things likr, *We locked him up for his

own good-' Or, 'W€ locked bim up because his pareats were['t available.' Or, 'We

losked him up to get a me*tal health a$sessment.' But none of thess rcasors arc rcflect*din stalute or p:ofessional standards""

Detentian refornr efforts, on the other harrd, are evidence&baserj. effcrts t* reverse the

unnece$sary and harmful flow of ycuth ints locked detention who could be moreeff*ctively serv*d at homs or in a commrnity*based setti*g. In comm*nities *s div*me asNew York City and Fima Csunty {AU) and the stateg of North Dakota and NewHampshire javenile justice practitioners have found that keeping youth ont af secr$edetsntion a€$nie$ ma&y benefits for youth and families-including better mental hEaltha,ss$$smsnt nnd treatrnent, greater and sbonger cosn*ctiors with s+hool, f*mily andcommunity, and a reduction ofraciaVsthnic disparities by gu*rdixg against morc punitivctreatment of youlh qf colqr *s compared with their white eormt*tparts"Y

The Honorable Paul LasnsrrccJuIy 1?,2007

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RertCIra{ipe Jssfics

Frawirrg upon intsrrrafioaal models from New Zealand, Australia arrd Native Canada a

riew *ay of thinking about and addressing juvenile off*iding emrrg*d in the mid*to-l*te

1990s, lcnown vari*usly as balanccd and restorative justice, victim*offender me.diation

and family grolrF conferencing. Thc essential idea of balanced and restorative justice is

that repairing harm, as it relatos to juvcnile rwongdoi*g *ad.offending, is pursued within

a three-poiut bsleace of the needs of 1) victims, 2) offer:ders and 3) eommunities"

Active palticipation of victims, victimso families, offenders and offendere" familiEs and

cornra*nity members make the proc€ss work. Agents of the courb aud othcr child- and

family-serving advo**tes arrd professiar:als faeilitatc, sr:pport and er:fbree reparative

agreemsn:s"d Str.di** &om the Urrited St*tes and other countries citr significant benefits

to both of&nders in terms of reducing rccidivism and ta victims and survivors in texns sf

enhancing their sense of well bcing and healing.'{i

Grail.v,ated.$srrcrraas

Graduated s$letions progra$$ utilir* a conlinuum of disposition options for delinquency

raduction. The term "graduated sanctions" implies that rhe penaltics for delinquant

astivity shquld move from thosc tlat are lknited in their scope ard intrtsion into the lives

of youth to thoss th*t are higbly resfictive, in keeping with the severity and nature of the

oJfe.rse committed. *r other woldso ycuth who conrmit serious and violent offen;e*

should receive more restrj.ctive senlences than youth who commit less serlous a$d

no*violent cffenses. However, for graduated sanction$ prograrns to fulfill their promisc

of delinquency reduction, they must ensure that thc right juveniles ars csnnected to the

right programs at the nght time Types of sanctions typically include :

r Immediate sanctio*s, targeted toward lgss serious no*-chronic offenders;

r Intern:edi*te sanctiox, appropriate forjuve:dles who continue to offend

follorv*rg irnmedjate iatervcntion*; youth who have committed mcre scrioas

The Hororabie Paul LawrenceJulY 12, ?0O7

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fclanyo{fenscs;and$i}$IeviQl0$toffenderswhgcanbenEfitfromfl}p€Iy:$on?

structure, and monitoring but not necessanly incarceration'

Secure care, epprdpriare for serious violent' chranic offqnders; ai?d

Aftercare'&pplopnsteforofferrder$transitiordngbackintothecommuni.fy

followirtg secure care-

An OJJDP-frmded Study of exisung graduated sanctions systetns found them to be more

eff*ctiv* and les cnstly than juvenile incarceration'uiii According to researcher:s al the

universityofvirgiaia" "The graduared sanctions approaBh hasmanyFrovenb*n*fi'ts-

reduced co$t, incre&sed aco*untabihtyby tire juvenife *nd the commumty; and enhancad

respousiven$s ta a jUvenile's keatment Resds'"ix Mofeover: paduated san*tions *Is sse*

as * u$sful tool iu the pursuit of 'testarative justiceu" sllpporting the proce* of

reconsiliation that holds offender* acso'untable through making arnends'n

Furcd.ing tlnder the JJDP A*t

Regarding *se sf fedelal funds under thc JJIF A*t, congless shauld strongiy ccnsider

p:uhibiting the lrse of fedefal funds for ineficcdve arrd damagiug aFFroachel srrch as

higuypunitive models shown to i*crease, rather than d'*crcase rs-arrest and r*-off*nse'

incfuding bbot campso scared straigbt programs, excessive us* of physieal restleint" f0:cs

andpunrshmenl'andthebuildingoflargeresidenti*linstitutions."i

rn sddition* when crafiing stat* Th:ee-ye*r Flans for delinquerrcy preverrtion, the state

Advisory Groups are in en ideal pasi.tion to recommend thE use orJllP Act fu*ds for

prograrnsandpractioegthatemphasizeduepracess,positiveyauthdevelopmer:tand

adolescent brain developmfiit fcsearch, tnd restarntion of an offender's relationship to

so*iefy. IJl the curest itEration *f thE JJIP Act too many "cofe purpo$e areas'" are list*d

as pos*ible uses for federal fundlrrg in section 2?3 deseribing the requirern*tts for $tate

Plans" Regrottabiy, soms,.cofe purposes,, have littl* tg do with etTeclive suppo:1 for

c*npliance with the core r*quircments or the plomodon cf best praoti*es' Pl*irse

csnsidcr way$ 1s trim back the ouffent laund4r list of divergent possibitities $o as to

Ths tlon*rablc F*ul L*lvrencclulY l?,200?

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*mphasire *nd elevate somplianee with the ssr€ requirements and initiatives that sitive to

limit a young per$sn's court involvern*nt, out-of-home placement or any sofi of

csnfinsment while ensuring communiry safety.

Cottclasion

In closing I wish tq leave wi& you copics sf thre* publicatioae *om the Coaiition for

Juvslile Justice: two addressing *dolescent brain development and implieations for

juvenile justice snd the IJI)P Act, as well as the Coalitisn's report on detention refoml,

supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundatisn. I was pro*d to serve as an expcrt advisor

on all of th*se publications" I dso wish ts avail myself to yau should ycu have any

fi:rther questione. Many thanks f:or the oppcrturrity ta spe*k before you today.

'Be*tnc€ Lun*" "Srain and Cognitive P{oceeses Uad*rlying C+gnitivt Contral of Bebaviar i-nAdslcscence," IJniversity of Finsburgh, Oct. ?005.o Sw w*rui.i$ai*rtice.or#conlbgssq-*.ht$rl end'ffu.{Ungs f{om ths-ldgcArt&r Fq'+pdsdagSg

etrxisrk,$n Adolsscent llevel$pre$f a,nd JBysnilc Justic*,"Coalitior for Javenile Justice, 'runlscking lhe Futrx$ Detcntioa Reform in th* Jr:v*:rile Justicq System,

2003,'" Ibid'Csalitiot for Juvenilc Justice, "[Jnlockiog the Futi*q: Detcttioa Reform ia the Juvenile Justic* Syslem,2003.d Dazernnrc,0., and M Urnbrcit and OJJDP. *Conference, Circles, 3r:ards and Medistioils: Restc:ativeJustice "rrtl Citisen Involvcrse*t in &e Response to Youtlr Crinc," 1999,* rbid.'ilWilson J,J-, and J.C. I{owell- -'Couryrehensive Stratcgy for Serious, Yioleirt and Chrstic JuvsnileOffenders" ?rbgr*m Su:rrua4r." Washingto:q D.C"; Office of Juv**il* J*stice and D*linquency P:cv*ntio:t"U.S. $ep*rtn:er:t cf Justicen 1993.* Reddiag, R*3. i?000)"

'Gradaated and community-based sanctions for juvenile nlTtadere." Juve*ileJra!*rc€.Fdct 5&€er- Ctadattewille, VA: ks*rure of Law, Psychiary" & Fublic .Policy" Univcrsity ofVirginia,200CI." Nttional Cauncil *f Juvenile and Faruily Court iudges, Juy*nile $ancdoas C*ater T:aining and TechnicalAgsistance C*ntcr,'?irst Monday,"' Junc 2005,htts#wry.aqjfaisrg/rnpqsg iesegd&[lqqsts/juse%3Q?Q$.ldf.*'.Mendel, Rich*rd A. and A"sedca.nYouth Policy Forurq *Lcs* llype, Ir{qre Hclp; Reducing JuvenileCriu*, Wb*t Warlcs*snd What &:csn"t,n' ?000 and "Less Cosf ltdore Srfcry: Cniding Lights for Reformin Juvenile Justice." 2001.

The Honorabl* Fau,l LarnrcnceJuly 12. ?007