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- Our Mission -
The Juvenile Justice Initiative is a statewide advocacy coalition to transform the juvenile justice system. The JJI advocates to reduce reliance on detention, to enhance fairness for all youth and to develop adequate community based resources throughout the state.
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"But, in the end, I had to remind myself that I was dealing with children."
Alex Kotlowitz, End Note, There are No Children Here.
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ModelsforChange
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation launched an initiative to help states become models of juvenile justice reform. "Models for Change: Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice" is an effort to create successful and replicable models of juvenile justice system reform through targeted investments in four key states: Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Washington. The initiative seeks to accelerate progress towards a more rational, fair, effectice, and developmentally appropriate juvenile justice system. The Juvenile Justice Initiative is proud to participate in the Models for Change initiative.
Latest News from Illinois:
- Chicago Tribune article, "Poll sees hope for young offenders," highlights the findings from the poll commissioned by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Click here for the MacArthur press release and click here for the full study: "Rehabilitation Versus Incarceration of Juvenile Offenders: Public Preferences in Four Models for Change States." The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin "Detention no solution for youths: poll" also covered the story.
- On February 13 2008, the JJI presented testimony to the House Juvenile Justice Reform Committee regarding the status of the Department of Juvenile Justice. Click here to view the testimony.
- The 1st Annual Collaborative Juvenile Justice Conference "Connecting the Pathways" was held October 31-November 2, 2007 in Springfield. To see the full program book, please click here. Betsy Clarke's presentation and Mary Reynolds' presentation during the "Legislation & Policy" session are also available.
- On October 31, 2007, the Children and Family Justice Center of the Northwestern Law School and the National Juvenile Defender Center , released Illinois: An Assessment of Access to Counsel and Quality of Representation in Delinquency Proceedings. The report includes strategic recommendations for reform and was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change project. In addition to other print coverage, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial and the Chicago Tribune both covered the release of the report. Additional coverage can be found at the National Juvenile Defender Center.
- Read testimony provided by the Juvenile Justice Initiative at the House Juvenile Justice Reform Committee hearing on October 10, 2007 regarding the progress of the Department of Juvenile Justice. The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin ran a story on the hearing.
- Chicago Tribune story "Outside administrator takes over juvenile center" August 15, 2007 outlines the latest developments for the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center.
- Chicago Tribune story "Behind bars, but still girls" July 16, 2007 describes new efforts at the Illinois Youth Center at Warrenville.
- Jaap Doek, Law Professor at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and Chairperson of the United Nation’s Committee on the Rights of the Child from 2001-2006, provided a briefing on the principles of the Convention as they relate to children in conflict with the law on April 16, 2007 in Washington, D.C. Click here for more information on the event. Click here for more information on the issue.
- "New Poll Shows Public Strongly Favors Rehabilitation for Youth," a press release issued on February 7, 2007, indicates that the public supports rehabilitation and treatment, not prosecution in the adult court or incarceration in adult jails or prisons. The poll by Zogby International was commissioned by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Click here for the press release and click here for the poll.
- JJI issued a press release highlighting the national report from the Justice Policy Institute entitled "The Dangers of Detention: The Impact of Incarcerating Youth in Detention and Other Secure Facilities" and focused on the need for reforms at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.
- JJI and the Children & Family Justice Center of Northwestern University hosted a "Dialogue Examining How States Handle 17 Year Olds in Juvenile Court" on Friday, October 13, 2006 at Northwestern University Law School. For a press release highlighting the information, please click here.
- JJI held two regional workshops entitled "Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice: Impact of Brain Development Research on Juvenile Justice Practice in Illinois." The workshops were held on June 21 in Springfield and June 23 in Urbana. Click here for a portion of the information presented at the workshop by Betsy Clarke. Click here for the legislative update presentation and click here for the presentation on the new Department of Juvenile Justice. Additional regional workshops are being organized for 2008.
Latest News from Around the Nation:
"Sentencing Our Children to Die in Prison" is a new report from the University of San Francisco School of Law that examines the practice of juvenile life without parole.
" Jailing Juveniles: The Dangers of Incarcerating Youth in Adult Jails in America" is a new report released by the Campaign for Youth Justice that provides a summary of the risks that youth face when incarcerated in adult jails, facts and figures about how many youth are incarcerated in jails nationwide, and a review of the limited federal and state laws protecting youth in jails. "Why they're called juvenile" is an editorial by the Baltimore Sun published on November 4, 2007 that highlights the importance of recognizing the differences between juveniles and adults.
A new report from the Equal Justice Initiative documents the cases of 73 young teens across the country who have been sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility for parole. The report, "Cruel and Unusual: Sentencing 13- and 14-Year Old Children to Die in Prison," can be found at: http://eji.org/eji/reports/cruelandunusual
For information on the reauthorization of the federal Juvenile Justice Delinquency & Prevention Act, click here to go to the Act 4 Juvenile Justice Campaign. To urge Congress to reauthorize the Act, please visit the Youth Policy Action Center.
The State of California recently enacted new reforms to the state's juvenile justice system. Click here for a story from the San Francisco Chronicle.
The State of Connecticut recently raised the age of juvenile court jurisdiction. Click here for a story from the New Haven Independent.
Wisconsin becomes the latest state to propose raising the age of juvenile court jurisdiction. For background and information on this initiative from an article in the State Bar of Wisconsin "Wisconsin Lawyer," please click here.
Neither War Nor Peace is a new book examining comparisons of organized armed groups and the involvement of youth within them in ten countries around the world. Chicago is the only city within the United States included in the report. Generally, the study concludes that gangs around the world proliferate in poverty-stricken areas due to lack of opportunities, so effective gang reduction programs need to focus on building resources and opportunities in communities rather than repression.. The summary, recommendations and full text can be found here: http://gangresearch.net/Globalization/nwnp.html
The National Council on Crime and Delinquency recently released a new report that challenges the assumption that black and brown children are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system simply because they commit more crime. "And Justice for Some: Differential Treatment of Youth of Color in the Justice System," describes why youth of color enter the justice system in far greater proportion than whites. The Council found differential treatement at every step of the criminal justice process. Click here for the full report.
The MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice recently released a series of issue briefs that summarize the latest scientific research on competence to stand trial, criminal blameworthiness, juvenile psychopathy, transfer of juveniles in to criminal court, effectiveness of treatment with adolescent offenders, and findings from the "Pathways to Desistance" study. The briefs are available at: www.adjj.org.
A USA Today article stated "Get-tough laws that have put more teenagers in adult prisons since the early '90s conflict with a wave of new research suggesting how children can be set straight and society protected at the same time."
Check the National Juvenile Justice Network website for the latest news under "What's New."
Welcome to the Juvenile Justice Initiative!
The JJI is a response to the significant changes in the juvenile justice system in Illinois and across the country. Although the number of crimes committed by juveniles is decreasing, the number of youths in custody is increasing.
The Juvenile Justice Initiative works to inform and educate policy makers, the media, and the general public about the alarming increase in number of juveniles held in custody, about the disparate number of minority youth in custody, and about the lack of adequate community based alternatives to detention.
JJI is a non-profit, non-partisan, inclusive statewide coalition of state and local organizations, advocacy groups, legal educators, practitioners, community service providers, and child advocates supported by private donations from foundations, individuals, and the legal community.
JJI as a coalition establishes or joins broad-based collaborations developed around specific initiatives to act together to achieve concrete improvements and lasting changes for youth in the justice system, consistent with the JJI mission statement.
Our initiatives seek to create a constituency for youth in the justice system with an emphasis on promoting intervention strategies, ensuring fairness for youth in the justice system, and building community resources for comprehensive continuums of services and sanctions to reduce reliance on confinement. Our collaborations work in concert with other organizations, advocacy groups, concerned people, and state and local government entities throughout Illinois to ensure that fairness and competency development are public and private priorities for youth in the justice system.
Our statewide policy approach to juvenile justice advocacy links:
- research and analysis;
- policy development;
- network and coalition-building;
- policy education;
- policy advocacy;
- and policy evaluation and implementation assistance
in an atmosphere of collaboration.
To access extensive research on a number of juvenile justice issues, please visit Building Blocks for Youth at: www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/issues
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