A number of challenges currently face the juvenile justice reform efforts. Therefore if my state governor appointed me to a task force to help reform juvenile justice, the ten issues I would identity in need of reformation would include, mental health, youth in child welfare, closing the loophole on status offenses, juvenile indigent defense, probation, keeping kids out of adult jails, addressing racial disparities, group homes and halfway houses, day treatment programs and wilderness probation programs.
The issue with mental health in juvenile justice is that over two thirds of the youth involved with the juvenile justice system experience some form of mental health problems (Smith, 2017). Each year over 2 million youth come into contact …show more content…
My solution to this issue would be to talk to the judges and encourage them to refrain from sentencing youth to adult jails and prisons unless a capital crime is committed. I would also try to set up some form of mock incarceration for youth who continuously commit crimes to scare them into good behavior (Smith, 2017).
The issue with racial disparities is that youth of color are profoundly over represented in the juvenile justice system. Studies show that black youth are twice as likely to be arrested as white youth. To combat this issue I would implement more services, such as after school care programs, targeted at youth of color and in the low income communities, to try to help these youth from taking the wrong path in life (Smith, 2017).
The issue with group homes and halfway houses is that they are open non-secure community based programs that often face a number of obstacles that act as barriers to the effective treatment of youth. One major issue is that residents often get victimized by other residents and even staff. My solution to this issue would be to implement training for the staff and to hold the youth and staff members accountable for every wrong action they commit (Elrod & Ryder,
The issue with mental health in juvenile justice is that over two thirds of the youth involved with the juvenile justice system experience some form of mental health problems (Smith, 2017). Each year over 2 million youth come into contact …show more content…
My solution to this issue would be to talk to the judges and encourage them to refrain from sentencing youth to adult jails and prisons unless a capital crime is committed. I would also try to set up some form of mock incarceration for youth who continuously commit crimes to scare them into good behavior (Smith, 2017).
The issue with racial disparities is that youth of color are profoundly over represented in the juvenile justice system. Studies show that black youth are twice as likely to be arrested as white youth. To combat this issue I would implement more services, such as after school care programs, targeted at youth of color and in the low income communities, to try to help these youth from taking the wrong path in life (Smith, 2017).
The issue with group homes and halfway houses is that they are open non-secure community based programs that often face a number of obstacles that act as barriers to the effective treatment of youth. One major issue is that residents often get victimized by other residents and even staff. My solution to this issue would be to implement training for the staff and to hold the youth and staff members accountable for every wrong action they commit (Elrod & Ryder,