There is a lack of comprehensive support for at-risk youth and their families in America. At-risk youth face severe challenges to becoming well-adjusted adults. Without these intensive supportive programs, at-risk youth resort to gang life, dropping out of school, developing mental health issues, and becoming substance abuse users. These behaviors often lead to incarceration and cost tax payers millions of dollars in rehabilitation costs.
According to Barnert (2015), characteristics of at-risk youth include truancy, failing school, substance dependency, isolation, criminal activity, gang involvement, and family strife. A critical objective is to identify at-risk youth as soon as possible and provide protective factors through mentorship programs …show more content…
“Pg 83 new terrain article” In many states, public policies are created to impose harsh punitive penalties on youth and undocumented immigrants. For instance, in California there are several proposed bills designed to deny undocumented immigrants public benefits and ban affirmative action policies. These include Proposition 227 which bans bilingual education and Proposition 21 which gives courts greater authority to sentence youth, as young as 14, as adults. These policies are designed to create a legal way to marginalize youth. These laws lack ethical bearing. Laws should be designed create a strength-based ideology around prevention and supportive services. The systemic oppression supported by public policy is disheartening. The goal should be to engage adolescent in healthy positive relationships and foster resiliency and perseverance not punishment and …show more content…
Research indicates that monitories are five times more likely to be detained – WHERE DID THIS COME FROM by the police and Latinos are three times more likely than their Caucasian equivalents. There are clear disparities that negatively impact minority at-risk youth. They continue to deal with inequality, racism, police brutality, and poverty. Ginwright (2002) sheds light on the issue by stating that in 1997 although minority youth only accounted for 34% of the United States population, they also accounted for 62% of the country’s incarcerated youth. Toward a Social Justice Model of Youth Development article pg 82 – what is this? As a result, it is important for social workers and other supportive roles to be the voice for these adolescents. It is essential that society as a whole continues to talk about the disparities of minority incarceration in order to bring awareness and improve relationships between minorities and the judicial
According to Barnert (2015), characteristics of at-risk youth include truancy, failing school, substance dependency, isolation, criminal activity, gang involvement, and family strife. A critical objective is to identify at-risk youth as soon as possible and provide protective factors through mentorship programs …show more content…
“Pg 83 new terrain article” In many states, public policies are created to impose harsh punitive penalties on youth and undocumented immigrants. For instance, in California there are several proposed bills designed to deny undocumented immigrants public benefits and ban affirmative action policies. These include Proposition 227 which bans bilingual education and Proposition 21 which gives courts greater authority to sentence youth, as young as 14, as adults. These policies are designed to create a legal way to marginalize youth. These laws lack ethical bearing. Laws should be designed create a strength-based ideology around prevention and supportive services. The systemic oppression supported by public policy is disheartening. The goal should be to engage adolescent in healthy positive relationships and foster resiliency and perseverance not punishment and …show more content…
Research indicates that monitories are five times more likely to be detained – WHERE DID THIS COME FROM by the police and Latinos are three times more likely than their Caucasian equivalents. There are clear disparities that negatively impact minority at-risk youth. They continue to deal with inequality, racism, police brutality, and poverty. Ginwright (2002) sheds light on the issue by stating that in 1997 although minority youth only accounted for 34% of the United States population, they also accounted for 62% of the country’s incarcerated youth. Toward a Social Justice Model of Youth Development article pg 82 – what is this? As a result, it is important for social workers and other supportive roles to be the voice for these adolescents. It is essential that society as a whole continues to talk about the disparities of minority incarceration in order to bring awareness and improve relationships between minorities and the judicial