Reentry and Families

(As quoted from http://nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/topics/families)  “The growth in the number of men and women incarcerated in the United States over the past 20 years has affected an extraordinary number of children and families. And for the men and women returning from prison and jail, family support can be a key factor in successful transition. Most people returning to the community go home to a social network of relatives and close friends. Many reentry initiatives recognize the importance of engaging families and their communities in the reentry process, and the need to address the affects of incarceration on people’s children and other loved ones.”  I am curious to know what is working and what more can we do?

 

Reentry and Juveniles

Each year, approximately 100,000 youth under the age of 18 leave secure residential facilities, including juvenile facilities, jails and prisons, following adjudication.  Many youth in the juvenile justice system struggle with educational deficiencies, mental illnesses, and substance abuse, and return to communities with high rates of crime and poverty and poorly performing schools. Youth who are released from institutional confinement are more likely to succeed if they have access to services that can help them thrive in a noninstitutional environment. Discharge planning, educational and vocational programs, housing assistance, substance abuse and mental health treatment, and life skills training can reduce recidivism and help youth build healthy, productive futures.

 

Coordinating Council Web Site To Help

The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has established a new Web site, cciToolsforFeds.org, offering a wealth of tools and resources to help Federal staff plan, support, and help sustain comprehensive community initiatives (CCIs)—local community interventions that seek to improve outcomes for youth and families through systems change. CCIs foster broad-based and multisector collaborations to improve the governance, policies, practices, and values of organizations and systems involved in promoting the health and well-being of youth. Examples of issues addressed by CCIs include readiness for school, high school graduation rates, the disproportionate representation of minority youth in the justice system, abuse and neglect, suicide, substance abuse, and delinquency and violence.

 

Children without Health Insurance

The Kid’s Count website (http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/acrossstates/Rankings.aspx?ind=32) has published statistics on the many children throughout the United States that are currently without health care.  In Indiana, 6% of children under 17 are not currently insured.  As the healthcare debate remains heated, I am curious about these statistics and how they will play a part in future legislation as it pertains to kids.

 

PBS Discussion of whether youth should be tried as adults

PBS has posted an interesting discussion about whether youth should be tried as the youth that they are, or as adults.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/

Should teens who commit serious crimes be tried and sentenced as adults or children?

 

Anti-Gang Initiatives…How can we impact Indiana?

As quoted from the OJJDP website, the latest reported National Youth Gang Survey, some 788,000 gang members and 27,000 gangs were active in more than 3,550 U.S. jurisdictions in 2007. As most gang members join between the ages of 12 and 15, prevention is a critical strategy within a comprehensive response to gangs that includes intervention, suppression and reentry. OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model is the product of a national gang research and development program that OJJDP initiated in the mid-1980s.

A national assessment of gang problems and programs provided the foundation for the research-based model. Its key components reflect the best features of existing and evaluated programs across the country. The model outlines five strategies: community mobilization, social intervention, opportunities for educational and vocational advancements, suppression, and organizational change.

In October 2009, the National Youth Gang Center, which had been funded OJJDP since 1995, merged with the National Gang Center, which had been funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance since 2003. This new partnership recognizes that street gang activities transcend ages of the members and that a balanced, comprehensive approach is needed to reduce gang involvement and levels of gang crime. Consolidation of the centers has leveraged resources and resulted in a single, more efficient entity, responsive to the needs of researchers, practitioners, and the public.

How is Indiana getting involved to help our youth?  What can we do to help?

 

OJJDP Acting Administrator Describes Survey on Children’s Exposure to Violence

In conjunction with the release of the OJJDP bulletin “Children’s Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey,” OJJDP Acting Administrator Jeff Slowikowski issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Justice’s Justice Blog:

Yesterday, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) released a report on the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence. The report is a precedent-setting survey because it gives us the first real estimates—as the most comprehensive survey to date–on the nature and extent of violence in children’s lives.

It is the first time data has been collected across all age ranges, and all types of violence, to define the full scope of violence-related experiences in a child’s life—whether it be as victims or witnesses, and whether it be in the home, the school or the community. This is also the first time data has been collected on the cumulative exposure to violence over a child’s lifetime.

With this comprehensive survey, we now have learned that more than 60 percent of the children surveyed were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly. Nearly one-half of the children and adolescents surveyed were assaulted at least once in the past year, and more than 1 in 10 were injured as a result. 

Respondents also reported they were the victim of a robbery, vandalism, or theft. Some said they were victims of child maltreatment, including physical and emotional abuse, neglect, or a family abduction. 1 in 16 were victimized sexually. 

As Attorney General Holder said yesterday in Chicago, these figures are staggering.

The violence that millions of children and youth are exposed to in their homes, schools and communities, whether as direct victims or as a witness, can disrupt their development in many ways. This disruption in development comes from the impact of the stress or trauma on the child. It can be exhibited in how they think, interact, learn and develop relationships. 

Each child responds to exposure to violence differently and many children are resilient. Others need support to address trauma reactions to prevent further adverse reactions. That’s why we in the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention support initiatives like Safe Start to prevent and reduce the impacts of children’s exposure to violence. It is our mission to protect our youth and reduce children’s exposure to violence.

At OJJDP we will continue to support the training necessary to reach across disciplines to identify children who are at risk of exposure to violence, such as witnessing domestic violence, and to coordinate the delivery of services to these children. Accurate information is a key ingredient to helping us accomplish our mission. Because the survey tracked children’s lifetime exposure to violence, researchers can develop more accurate estimates on the total number of children in a certain age group who have been exposed to a particular form of violence. It illustrates more clearly the full extent of exposure and the cumulative effects of multiple exposures to violence and how exposure to one form of violence may make a child more vulnerable to other forms of violence.

Armed with these facts we will also work with those who come into daily contact with youth and children to assess and identify those who are suffering emotionally, socially, physically and developmentally from exposure to violence. We can better coordinate our outreach to those children and families who need our help, and provide them with the support they need. This study gives us the tools to better protect juveniles and youth from the effects of violence and guide them into healthy and productive lives.

Resources:

“Children’s Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey” is available at ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=249751.

 

How can I find out about juvenile justice legislation?

If you’ve ever asked this question, the National Conference of State Legislatures has now provided the answer. The Juvenile Justice Bill Tracking Database follows juvenile justice legislation in all fifty states, the District of Columbia , Puerto Rico, and  American Territories . Whether you’re interested in the most recent legislation concerning due process and procedures, juvenile sex offenders, mental health and substance abuse, or reentry and aftercare for juveniles, you’ll find the answer in this continually updated database.

http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=12686

 

What now? Where to go for resources for reentry.

Noted below is a link that provides a list of available resources in Indiana to assist with reentry.  To narrow your search, click the Search button by county, service type, zip code, and more. The organizations listed here are those shared among Restorative Justice Community organizations. This is a community directory and individual organizations are not directly endorsed by IJJTF.

http://www.restorativejusticecommunity.org/ResourceDirectory/dirDisplay_MapDir.asp?OrigScript=&activity=&statef=IN&txt_map_county_name=&stylesheet=0&DoAction=ShowList&ref=939&MF=fmap_000099.gif&MB=bmap_CECFFF.gif&TMF=fmap_000099.gif&TMB=bmap_CECFFF.gif

 

How to talk to your teens about uncomfortable topics?

What is the best way to discuss with your child the dangers of “sexting”?  What can we say to ensure that they stay physically and emotionally healthy?  4Parents.gov provides some interesting resources and suggestions for parents who are faced with the ever changing adult subjects that are kids are facing.  What works?

www.4parents.gov