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Girls in the Juvenile Justice System

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Between 1980 and 2000, the arrest rates for girls for all ... Public Defender Service of Washington DC. Marsha Levick. Juvenile Law Center. Brenda Smith ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Girls in the Juvenile Justice System


1
Girls in the Juvenile Justice System
2
The Problem Exploding Numbers
  • Girls are the fastest growing segment of the
    juvenile justice population.
  • Between 1980 and 2000, the arrest rates for girls
    for all offenses rose 35.
  • The first adjudication for girls occurs at a
    median age of 14 to 15 years old.
  • The biggest spike in arrest rates has been among
    African American girls, who are severely
    overrepresented in the juvenile justice system.

3
Tracking the Problem
  • Gender Bias and Social Norms
  • Common Paths into Juvenile Court

4
Gender Bias and Social Norms
  • Gender bias is a chief reason for girls
    continued and growing presence in the juvenile
    justice system.
  • Generally, the societal strictures on girls
    behavior are much more stringent for girls than
    they are for boys.
  • So, aggressive or anti-social conduct by girls is
    often considered symptomatic of some deeper
    pathology.

5
Common Paths into Juvenile Court
  • Status Offenses
  • History of
  • Abuse and Neglect
  • Physical Abuse
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Mandatory Arrest Laws for Domestic Disputes

6
Common Paths into Juvenile Court Status Offenses
  • Most of the charges against girls are status
    offenses.
  • Status offense conduct that is a unacceptable
    because of the actors age.
  • Typically include broad language and catchall
    sections that permit broad discretion in
    enforcement.
  • Girls are 170 more likely to be arrested for a
    status offense than boys, who commit an equal
    number of status offenses.
  • Status offenses are a prelude to juvenile court.
  • Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act

7
Common Paths into Juvenile Court Profile of the
Typical System-Involved Girl
  • The typical girl in the delinquency system is a
    girl of color who has a history of
  • Abuse and Neglect
  • Abused and neglected girls are nearly two times
    more likely to be arrested as juveniles.
  • Abused and neglected girls are 2.4 times more
    likely to be arrested for violent crimes.
  • Physical Abuse and Sexual Abuse
  • 81 of girls interviewed for the 1998 National
    Council on Crime and Delinquency study of girls
    in the California juvenile justice system
    reported being victims of one or more forms of
    physical and/or sexual abuse.
  • Typical age at which the abuse occurred was
    between 12 and fifteen years old.
  • Physical abuse tends to be violent 45 of the
    girls reported having been beaten or burned at
    least once.
  • Injuries tended to be inflicted by family
    members, family friends, or boyfriends.

8
Common Paths into Juvenile Court Mandatory
Arrest Laws for Domestic Disputes
  • Mandatory arrest laws for domestic disputes mean
    a high percentage of girls are arrested for
    intra-family incidents.
  • In some jurisdictions, where a parent reports
    child is assaultive towards parent or another
    sibling, arrest is required.
  • Arrest is even required in mutual combat
    situations where the child hits back in self
    defense.

9
Girls Justice Initiative Reform Efforts for
System-Involved Girls
  • Girls Courts
  • Increasing Awareness in the Field
  • Judges Benchbook
  • Scholarship concerning day-to-day practice of
    representing, prosecuting, and monitoring
    system-involved girls
  • National Girls Health Screen Project
  • Hawaii LGBT Youth in Detention

10
Girls' Justice InitiativeA national
collaboration of organizations and individuals
dedicated to promoting justice and
gender-responsive policies for girls involved in
the juvenile justice and related systemsGirls
Justice Initiative Steering Committee
  • Leslie Acoca
  • In Our Daughters' Hands, Inc.
  • Marty Beyer
  • Psychologist
  • Stephanie Harrison
  • Public Defender Service of Washington DC
  • Marsha Levick
  • Juvenile Law Center
  • Brenda Smith
  • Washington College of Law at American University
  •  Francine Sherman
  • Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project
  • At Boston College Law School
  • Sandra Simkins
  • Rutgers-Camden School of Law
  • Abbe Smith
  • Georgetown University Law Center
  • Martha Stone
  • Center for Childrens Advocacy
  • University of Connecticut School of Law
  • Patricia Puritz
  • National Juvenile Defender Center
  • www.girlsjusticeinitiative.org.

11
Girls Courts
  • Hawaii
  • When compared to the national average, Hawaiis
    arrest rate for girls is approximately 12 higher
    (41 versus 29 nationally).
  • Initiated in September 2004, Girls Court works on
    a strength-based model to develop healthy
    relationships.
  • The Hawaii Girls Court has reduced recidivism by
    47.08, which included a 60.00 reduction in the
    number of runaways, and a 62.60 reduction in
    arrests. Notably, the girls, during and after
    their participation in Girls Court, spent 73.24
    fewer days on runaway.
  • www.girlscourt.org
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Court proceedings
  • Probation Leaders of Today in Solidarity
    (L.O.T.S.)
  • Dr. Beyer has facilitated Youth Family Team
    Meetings with the D.C. Youth Rehabilitation
    Services that give detained girls an chance to
    speak up about their strengths and needs and the
    design of disposition services.
  • D.C. continues to have a secure detention unit
    for girls, but no secure commitment facility. So,
    D.C. continues to struggle with the court sending
    PINS girls to secure detention, and these have
    been some of the girls with whom Dr. Beyer has
    done these meetings.

12
Judges Benchbook
  • Possible topics to be included
  • Girls brain development
  • Sample colloquies/best practices for girls of
    different ages in different types of proceedings
  • Disproportionate minority contact statistics

13
Scholarship
  • Scholarship
  • Dr. Marty Beyer, A System of Services for Girls
    in Connecticut, http//ctjja.org/media/media/media
    /media/resources/resource_187.pdf
  • Dr. Marty Beyer, Meeting Girls Needs,
    http//www.njdc.info/2006resourceguide/start.swf
  • Francine Sherman, Detention Reform and Girls
    Challenges and Solutions, http//www.njdc.info/200
    6resourceguide/start.swf.
  • For additional articles, go to the publications
    page at www.njdc.info, click on the 2006 Resource
    Guide, and check the chapter titled Markers of
    Inequality.

14
National Girls Health Screen Project
  • Currently, there are no medical standards for
    detained youth in the U.S.
  • The National Girls Health Screen Project,
    directed by Leslie Acoca and the Juvenile Law
    Center, is the first research effort to design,
    validate and disseminate a physical health screen
    (and physical exam) in detention centers
    nationally.
  • It is focused on girls at this point, but may
    eventually be expanded to include boys as well.
  • The method in which the screen is delivered is
    novel as well the Girls Health Screen (GHS) is a
    computerized voice instrument.
  • The GHS is currently being validated in 3
    detention centers in San Diego, Santa Cruz, and
    Philadelphia. The validation will be completed
    this year and the instrument available in 2008.

15
LGBT Youth in Detention
  • The ACLU of Hawai'i and the ACLU Lesbian Gay
    Bisexual Transgender Rights Project represented
    three young people in a federal civil rights
    lawsuit against Hawai'i Youth Correctional
    Facility (HYCF), the state's juvenile
    correctional facility.
  • The plaintiffs said they were abused and harassed
    because of their sexual orientation and gender
    identity while at HYCF.
  • The ACLU asked for a preliminary injunction to
    force HYCF to establish policies, procedures, and
    training to prevent further abuse of LGBT wards.
  • Dr. Beyer wrote a report as part of the ACLUs
    submissions to the court.
  • In 2006, the judge issued a preliminary
    injunction requiring HYCF to stop harassment of
    LGBT wards and HYCF settled the case, agreeing to
    many reforms and a new anti-harassment policy.
  • As part of the settlement, the staff received a
    week of training from Dr. Beyer on preventing
    harassment of LGBT youth.

16
Resources
  • Kim Taylor-Thompson, Girl Talk Examining Racial
    and Gender Lines in Juvenile Justice, 6 Nev. L.J.
    1137 (2006)
  • Dr. Marty Beyer, Developmentally-Sound Practice
    in Family and Juvenile Court, 6 Nev. L.J. 1215
    (2006)
  • www.girlsjustice.org
  • www.njdc.info

17
Contact Us
Contact Us
Robin Walker, Special Counsel National Juvenile
Defender Center 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite
304 Washington, DC 20036 (202)452-0010 xt
114 www.rwalker_at_njdc.info www.njdc.info
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