CJJ Today

18
Dec

Three States Lead the Way for Juvenile Justice Reforms

With help from The Pew Charitable Trust’s public safety performance project, lawmakers in Georgia, Hawaii, and Kentucky have recently implemented reforms to their juvenile justice codes.

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12
Dec

Reintroduction of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act Applauded

By A. L. Carlisle We applaud Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa) for their bipartisan leadership in reintroducing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) on Dec. 11, 2014. Before the JJDPA was first passed, in 1974, many children who were arrested for juvenile offenses were detained or held in adult jails. All too often, boys and girls were placed in the same cells as adults, where they were subjected to both physical and sexual assaults. These young people were harassed and sometimes forgotten for hours on end. Many of them were there because they were charged with status offenses, acts which would not be illegal if committed by adults. They were detained in, and very often committed to, secure facilities for offenses such as truancy, running away from home, and other such acts.
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11
Dec

JJDPA Reintroduced

On Dec. 11, 2014, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced S. 2999, legislation that would reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).

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12
Nov

Developmental Competency: Putting a Developmental Approach into Practice

Co-authored by: Lisa H. Thurau, Executive Director, Strategies for Youth, Inc. Amanda Petteruti, Senior Research Associate, Justice Policy Institute An overwhelming body of empirical research in psychology and biology has shown that a young brain processes and responds to stimuli differently than an adult, therefore, creating very different reactions. The National Research Council recently released a study saying that adolescents are “less able to regulate their own behavior in emotionally charged contexts…more sensitive to peer pressure and immediate rewards…[and] show less ability to make judgments and decisions that require future orientation.”
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