The National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition (NJJDPC), a collaboration of law enforcement, corrections, faith - based groups and organizations serving youth and families, issued recommendations to help restructure the juvenile justice system. The goal of NJJDPC, according to its mission statement, is to “advocate for sensible and safe solutions to crime and delinquency, build and leverage policy leadership in the field; and serve as a clearinghouse for research and best practices within our juvenile and criminal justice systems.”
NJJDPC statistics on the juvenile justice system as it now stands are eye-opening. NJJDPC reports that juveniles are often locked up for “status offenses,” nonviolent actions such as skipping school, or disregarding curfew, “crimes” for which adults would not be put behind bars. According to NJJDPC, 2.1 million young people are arrested each year, with 1.7 million of them referred to the juvenile court system. Each night 81,000 young people are in a juvenile detention facility. Most alarming is that 10,000 juveniles are placed in prisons or jails that are designated as adult facilities. Because the U.S. is the only nation in the world that sentences those under the age of 18 to life without the possibility of parole, there are 2,589 individuals serving that sentence due to a crime they committed as a juvenile.
Children can be rehabilitated, claims the JJDPC, but our current system seemingly rejects that notion. The JJDPC would like to see a change in how the juvenile justice system operates. The Coalition recommends:
Restoring federal leadership in juvenile justice policy
Supporting prevention, early intervention, and diversion strategies
Keeping Court involved youth safe
Removing youth from the adult criminal justice system
Supporting youth reentry
For a detailed look of recommendations for each of the above categories Click here to go to website
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