[This week we're bringing you up to date on good stuff from the last TWO WEEKS. Keep reading for the juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]

 
via Newsweek’s The Daily Beast: ‘Undocumented Kids Crossing the U.S Border Alone in Increasing Numbers’ 

Terry Green Sterling reports that while illegal immigration may be down, the number of kids coming in the country is soaring, and many are being deported without a lawyer. In 2012, the U.S Customs and Border Patrol apprehended 24,481 unaccompanied minors attempting to cross the border. Sterling tells this harrowing story: “Miguel Garcia was one such kid. He fled Guatemala City, he tells The Daily Beast, after the notorious M18 gang tried to recruit him when he played soccer. When he declined, the gang shot his brother, mistaking him for Garcia. The brother … Read More »

The above images are from the Ventura County Juvenile Justice Facility, a big compound off the 101 freeway. For the rest of this month, we are going to focus on juvenile facilities close to home for us, Ventura. For some a summer getaway destination… For others, a place for incarceration.

The Ventura County Juvenile Justice Facility was built on a 45 acre parcel in 2003 for $65 million. It has a maximum capacity of 420 juveniles– 240 in detention and 180 in commitment. Since 2002, the Probation Agency has been involved in Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative.

Last week Bart Lubow, Director of Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Justice Strategy Group gave a talk at UC Santa Barbara titled No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration, using information and findings from their like titled report released in October of last year. The talk was organized as a part of the Winter 2012 Justice Lecture Series at UC Santa Barbara. Lubow’s talk centered around America’s heavy reliance on juvenile incarceration and why we need to end this “addiction to incarceration.”