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Advocates for Children and Youth is working to get children and families the services they need without formal juvenile justice system involvement, and to achieve positive outcomes for children who do come in contact with Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services. All work is undertaken with an emphasis on reducing disproportionate minority contact at all stages of juvenile justice system involvement.
2013 Policy Priorities
- Create and implement specialized training for school-based law enforcement and school resource officers
- Lead and assist stakeholders across the State to pursue strategies to reduce school-based arrests
- Reduce the State's use of detention for youth awaiting court proceedings and placement
- Ensure that treatment opportunities are available for older youth (17-20) in the juvenile justice system
For a list of 2012 Successes, click here.
Rebecca Wagner,
Executive Director,
410-547-9200 x3009
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Updates
2013 Legislative Priorities
Advocates for Children and Youth is focusing on several issues during this legislative session. Read more >>
For Angela Johnese's testimony on Senate Bill 454- Juveniles Confinement in Juvenile Facilities and SB648- Juvenile Law Jurisdiction and Detention, click here.
For Angela Johnese's testimony on Senate Bill 791–Juvenile Law – Dispositions – Placement Guidance, click here.
For Angela Johnese's testimony on Senate Bill 732– Juvenile Law – Prohibition Against Continued Detention, click here.
For Angela Johnese's testimony on House Bill 246 – Juvenile Law – Placement Visits – Video Conferencing, click here.
Juvenile Homicide in Maryland
Analysis of Juvenile Homicide Data Shows Troubling Trends
While juvenile homicides are falling, the disproportionality of victims is rising. Black youth continue to be the overwhelming majority of juvenile homicide victims. Solutions toward reducing disproportionality and overall juvenile homicides should be expanded to provide safety for Maryland’s most vulnerable youth.
Read more >>
Unique Risk Factors Signal Dual Involvement for Female Youth in
Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems
Youth who experience childhood maltreatment are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior and become involved in the juvenile justice system. Although the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency is well established, little research has addressed the specific risk factors and unique experiences of youth, particularly female youth, who are involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
This increased risk warrants extra attention from child welfare and juvenile justice professionals. To better understand and serve this population, Advocates for Children and Youth will publish several briefs on the experiences of crossover youth in Maryland. As the first of several publications, this brief will provide an overview of existing research, outline some of the unique risk factors of female crossover youth generally, and highlight trends of female youth involved with the juvenile justice system in Maryland.
Read more >>
The High Cost of Detaining Youth:
A Juvenile Services Challenge & Opportunity
To supplement the ongoing reform efforts and to help ease the deep-end fiscal pressures, Advocates for Children and Youth (ACY) recommends an age limit of 14 for pre-trial detention. Most importantly, this specific reform will keep the youngest, most vulnerable youth out of detention facilities. Accounting for the cost of alternative programs related to the mandated age limits for detention and time limits for pending placement, this reform could produce a net savings of about $1.1 million in the first year alone.Read more>>
Interviewing and Interrogating Juvenile Suspects
Research has demonstrated that brain development continues throughout adolescence and into early adulthood. The frontal lobes, responsible for mature thought, reasoning and judgment, develop last. Adolescents use their brains in a fundamentally different manner than adults. They are more likely to act on impulse, without fully considering the consequences of their decisions or actions.
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No Place for Kids a Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration
Recent research has shown that secure placement of youth often leads to higher rates of recidivism, has little affect as a behavioral deterrent and in some cases worsens behavior after release. In many instances, youth who are detained are pulled deeper into the juvenile justice system and are physically and emotionally separated from their families and communities who are the most invested in their recovery and success.
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National Juvenile Defense Standards
The National Juvenile Defense Standards were promulgated to provide guidance, support, and direction to juvenile defense attorneys and other juvenile court stakeholders.
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Debate on New Youth Jail Ends with Plan for Renovating Existing Facility
The Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) announced plans to stop the construction of a youth jail in Baltimore City and will instead renovate an existing facility. This decision marks more than two years of research, meetings, demonstrations and presentations on alternative plans to the Departments by opponents of the youth jail.
Read more >>
Youth Detention and Treatment
Important Questions and Answers
Read more >>
MORE JUVENILE JUSTICE UPDATES
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