[Highlights from the week's juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]
 
via Gizmodo: ‘This Ad Has a Secret Anti-Abuse Message That Only Kids Can See’

In an effort to provide abused children with a safe way to reach out for help, a Spanish organization called the Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk Foundation, or ANAR for short, created an ad that displays a different message for adults and children at the same time. Video embedded below, or watch it here: http://gizmodo.com/this-ad-has-a-secret-anti-abuse-message-that-only-kids-493108460

 
via the Campaign for Youth Justice: ‘In Remembrance of Kirk Gunderson: Remembering My Son this Mother’s Day’
A heartbreaking and moving piece written by mother Vicky Gunderson, whose son Kirk committed suicide while incarcerated. This piece serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of family involvement in the youth justice system. Vicky writes, “Every … Read More »

A youth prison in Maryland where many of the cells, referred to as rooms, have chalkboard walls free to be drawn on. A California Youth Authority facility where young people serving “juvie life” sentences tack complex photo collages to the walls above their beds and desks. A cell at a detention facility in Multnomah County, Oregon where an 18” painted square on one wall delineates where young inmates can hang photos—all of the other wall space must remain blank. These are all examples of spaces in youth confinement facilities where children are permitted some creative control. My organization, Juvenile In Justice, having documented more than 200 facilities in 31 states in the U.S, can state with some confidence that the range of visuals/art in the youth prison system is overall pretty bleak.

Art can play a significant role in the process … Read More »

[Highlights from the week's juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]
 
via the Miami Herald: ‘Fred Grimm: For kids in isolation, a shrug from Florida lawmakers’

Crummy news from Florida. A Senate criminal justice committee hearing last week on Florida’s rampant use of solitary confinement for children resulted in nothing. The proposed legislation to regulate the practice was put aside without a vote and while it’s scheduled again for next week it’s not expected to pass. Many kids spending long periods of time in solitary confinement are held within adult jails– where an isolation cell is used to keep the juveniles separate from the adult population. We’re talking children, 17-year-olds, being kept in concrete cells for 23 hours a day, for weeks and months. Apparently, the Senate panel was way more interested in hearing … Read More »

[Highlights from the week's juvenile justice and justice related articles, reports, videos and more that are worth your time.]
 

Have you taken the Mistakes Kids Make pledge?

Mistakes Kids Make is a rad awareness campaign / storytelling project sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation. Their goal is to “remind us that the mistakes we make as kids should not ruin the rest of our lives or the lives of our families.” It may seem simple to you justice-minded folks but it’s working towards an important shift in perspective that needs to occur nationwide to alter how we think about and treat youth misbehavior.

Take the pledge here: http://mistakeskidsmake.org/#domore

On a lighter/loosely related note…
 

via Buzzfeed: ’8 Classic Zack Morris Moments That Today Could Totally Have Landed Him Behind Bars’ 

via Campaign for Youth Justice: ‘Tolerance in Schools for Latino Students: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline’

On April … Read More »

[This is the fourth in a series of posts on Santa Maria Juvenile Hall in Santa Maria, California.]
 

 
They told I am gang affiliated. I’m in 12th grade, a senior. I graduate in 2 weeks. But I still have the rest of my time, I should be out in May. I was sentenced to two years orange [adult] when I first came in on Prop 21 charges [California Proposition 21 - was a proposition proposed and passed in 2000 that increased a variety of criminal penalties for crimes committed by youth and incorporated many youth offenders into the adult criminal justice system]. Then the charges were dropped to juvie. I can get out on probation when I am 18… but it tough to do it right because I can get 15 years confinement if I mess up. It is hard to … Read More »

President Obama’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) preserves critical federal juvenile justice funding and recommends new investments to help states enact effective reforms. The recommendations put forth by the Administration will help states implement evidence-based strategies to reduce youth incarceration and foster better outcomes for youth, to reverse the school-to-prison pipeline, and to support public health and community-based approaches to violence prevention.
 
However, Congress must ACT on these numbers. Please sign and circulate these petitions today to tell both the House and the Senate that you support investing in our youth.
 

Take Action Now:

 
Sign the petition to the House – http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-the-house-support-critical-juvenile-justice-and-delinquency-prevention-funding
Sign the petition to the Senate – http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-the-senate-support-critical-juvenile-justice-and-delinquency-prevention-funding

Justice for Families is an organization doing important work nationwide to support families with youth in the system, including training family members to be advocates for reform and helping them to testify for their own children and for larger policy change.

Justice for Families needs YOU to demonstrate your support for new legislation that supports families by signing their Families Bill of Rights

The Justice for Families Bill of Rights includes 5 major rights:

1) Right to Notification–families have a right to be notified anytime significant decisions are being made about their loved ones or questions are being asked that could result in their child’s suspension, expulsion, arrest or prosecution.
2) Right to Participation–families have a right to participate and give input in these critical hearings and decision making points. Given this right
school disciplinary and juvenile justice processes shall be conducted using language and … Read More »