CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS INJUVENILE JUSTICE POLICY

Speakers:Erin Davies Children’s Law Center

Melinda HaggertyOhio Attorney General’s Office

Overview: Ohio’s Juvenile Justice System

Juvenile Court 101:Purpose of Juvenile Court

Hold youth accountable and keep the public safe, while

recognizing the fundamental developmental differences between youth and adults.

Juvenile Court 101:Goal of Juvenile Justice Reforms

Moving toward a “right sized” system that ensures an

individually tailored, evidence-based appropriate response

for each youth.

Juvenile Court 101:Terminology

Adult Term

Juvenile Term Definition

Found guilty

Adjudicated delinquent

Court determines you committed an offense

Sentence Disposition Punishment for committing an offense

Jail Detention Pre-trial or shorter-term post-trial secure placement

Prison Correctional institution

Post-trial secure placement

Probation Probation Part of sentence/disposition for committing crime

Parole Parole Conditional early release from a locked facility

National Research- and Evidence-Based and Trends

Moving Away From: Moving Towards:Placing youth in locked facilities

Community-based programming alternatives

One-size-fits-all approach

Assessing youth’s individualized needs and appropriate responses

“Gut feelings” about what works or what youth need

Utilizing evidence- and research-based assessments and programs

Focusing on the youth and his or her offense

Examining the underlying root causes for court involvement

National Research- and Evidence-Based and Trends: Benefits

More cost-effective Proven to work effectively to

reduce recidivism, increase rehabilitation, and improve public safety

Community-based More appropriate given youths’

unique developmental needs

National Research- or Evidence- Based Trends: Status Offenders

Moving Away From: Moving Towards:Detaining status offending youth, including for their own protection

Placing youth in community-based programming

Solely addressing the youth and his or her offense

Addressing the underlying root causes of the offense (family issues, education needs, etc.)

Formally processing status offending youth in courts

Diverting youth from the juvenile court system, including into other, more appropriate systems (i.e. child welfare or mental health)

Youth being pushed from schools into jj (aka school-to-prison pipeline)

Addressing youth behavior in the school setting (i.e. PBIS, restorative justice)

National Research- or Evidence- Based Trends: Delinquency Offenders

Moving Away From: Moving Towards:Placement in juvenile correctional facilities

Incentivizing courts to place youth in community-based alternatives

Long sentences in juvenile correctional facilities

Shorter-term sentences in correctional facilities, if at all

Focusing on the youth and the offense

Addressing root causes for behavior (i.e. trauma, substance abuse, mental health needs)

Long-term collateral consequences (i.e. sex offense registration)

Minimizing the long-term impacts of juvenile court involvement

National Research- or Evidence- Based Trends: Youth in Adult Court

Moving Away From: Moving Towards:Prosecuting youth in adult court

Retaining youth in juvenile court, including through blended sentencing

Placing youth in adult jails and prisons

Placing youth in juvenile detention and correctional facilities

Potential for mandatory transfer and extreme sentences, including death and life without parole

Individualized transfer assessments, sentencing, and meaningful release review

Same court rules and standards for youth and adults

Accounting for developmental differences between youth and adults, including in courts and facilities

Ohio Juvenile Justice System: Trends

Away From: Towards: Ohio Examples:Placing youth in locked facilities

Community-based programming alternatives

Detention – JDAIDYS - RECLAIM, Targeted RECLAIM, BHJJ, MST, early DYS release, decreased mandatory gun specs, detention credit

Prosecuting youth in adult court

Keeping youth in juvenile court

Reverse waiver, jail removal

One-size-fits-all approach

Assessing youth’s individualized needs and tailored responses

OYAS, early DYS release, gun specifications, mental health taskforce, MST

“Gut feelings” about what works or what youth need

Utilizing evidence- and research-based assessments and programs

OYAS, JDAI, Targeted RECLAIM, BHJJ, 45% reallocation budget language, MST

Long-term collateral consequences

Minimizing collateral consequences

Early sealing/expungement

Ohio Juvenile Justice System: Legislative Changes

HB 86 – Reduced mandatory gun specification time, allowed judges to release youth from DYS facilities early, created reverse waiver, and established mental health taskforce and competency guidelines

SB 337 – Allowed youth to receive detention credit and to more easily seal and expunge their juvenile court records, placed youth in juvenile detention instead of adult jails

Budget – Increased allocations to Targeted RECLAIM and BHJJ, 45% of savings from facility closures can be allocated to evidence-based programs

Ohio Juvenile Justice System:Programs

Program name: Purpose: Results:OYAS Instrument to assess youth’s

needs/risks at each point of the juvenile justice system

Provides objective, risk-based recommendations to juvenile courts

JDAI Ensure only youth who are a threat to the community are detained pre-trial

Detention reductions in 5 counties averaging 27%

RECLAIM and Targeted RELCAIM

Direct youth away from DYS and into community-based programs (Targeted RECLAIM requires the program to be evidence-based)

Lower recidivism rates; over 50% reduction in DYS facility populations

BHJJ Provides evidence-based, community-based programs for youth with serious mental health or substance abuse needs

Increased school attendance, reduced out of home placement, decreased substance use and recidivism

Ohio Juvenile Justice System:Program Acronyms

Acronyms: JDAI – Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative RECLAIM - Reasonable and Equitable

Community and Local Alternatives to the Incarceration of Minors

Targeted RECLAIM – evidence-based version of RECLAIM

OYAS – Ohio Youth Assessment System BHJJ- Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice Initiative MST – Multi-Systemic Therapy

Attorney General’s Task Force on Criminal Justice and Mental Illness

Taskforce: What Is It? Designed to address the “revolving

door” of individuals with mental health issues who come to the attention of the juvenile or adult criminal justice system

Co-Chaired by Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Stratton and Attorney General DeWine

Evolved from the Advisory Committee on Mental Illness and the Courts (ACMIC)

Advisory Committee on Mental Illness and the Courts

Originally founded in 2001 Run by the Supreme Court of Ohio Accomplishments:

37 mental health courts Promoted training for over 4,500 CIT officers Advocated for new Juvenile Competency

statute Challenge: Confined to issues impacting

the Courts

Taskforce: Subcommittees Aging Diversion and reentry Housing Juvenile justice Law enforcement Mental health and the courts Policy and legislation Psychiatry and Treatment Research/Best Practices Veterans Courts and Military Affairs

Taskforce: Who is Involved?

State agency representatives Law enforcement Judges Mental health practitioners Advocates Individuals with direct system

experience

Taskforce: Juvenile Justice Subcommittee Participants

Co-Chaired by a representative from the Attorney General’s Office and Franklin County Juvenile Court Judge Beth Gill

Members include advocates, practitioners, representatives from the Ohio Supreme Court and the Department of Youth Services, and individuals directly impacted by the system

Taskforce: Juvenile Justice Subcommittee Overview

Monthly meetings to discuss current issues in juvenile justice in Ohio

Speakers from throughout the state to keep members up to speed on the latest trends in counties

Three sub-groups: prevention/diversion, data collection, and youth involved in the juvenile or adult criminal justice systems

Taskforce: Juvenile Justice Prevention/Diversion

Focused on early identification of children with trauma or mental health issues and getting them into services before they hit the juvenile justice system

Examples: Red Flags Program School Responder Program

Taskforce: Prevention/DiversionAccomplishments

Issue: As recent events have shown, mental health programs can be critical to maintaining school safety.

Initiatives: The Subcommittee has weighed in with the various Ohio initiatives on school safety by promoting the School Responder System, which is in place in several counties in Ohio and helps to identify mental health issues in school early before the youth becomes involved with the juvenile system.

Taskforce: Prevention/DiversionAccomplishments

School Responder Program MacArthur Foundation “Model for Change” Trains teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria staff,

janitors, and other school professionals on how to recognize mental health issues

Places “responder” in school to link child to mental health services

Currently operating in Summit County and Jackson County

Taskforce: Prevention/DiversionAccomplishments

80 youth served (2011)

76% had improved attendance, behavior, and had mental health issue addressed

First year: over 200 youth served, only 8 entered the JJ system

School referrals decreased by 1/3

Summit County Jackson County

Taskforce: Prevention/DiversionAccomplishments

After Sandy Hook shootings, Senator Lehner and Senator LaRose held series of school safety hearings

JJ Subcommittee advocated for School Responder Model to promote early identification of mental health issues prior to a violent incident

Taskforce: Juvenile Justice Data Collection

Focus on getting better data collection system on youth in the juvenile justice system

Currently, all 88 juvenile courts use several different court software systems

Ohio law requires annual reports Need data to drive evidence-based policies

How can we know if a program is working if we don’t have data?

Taskforce: Data CollectionAccomplishments Issue: Ohio is one of the few states that does

not have a comprehensive, uniform data collection system for youth involved in juvenile courts, including youths’ mental health needs.

Initiative: The Subcommittee compiled a list of juvenile justice system data points for the Ohio Supreme Court to consider, provided research on other states’ data collection systems Served as a catalyst

Taskforce: Juvenile Justice System-Involved Youth

Focus on youth who are involved in either the juvenile justice or adult criminal justice systems

Ensure that they are given access to mandated, age-appropriate mental health resources and education

Particular concerned with youth in adult jails Bindover, SYO

Taskforce: Youth in Juvenile DetentionAccomplishments

Issue: Youth who enter juvenile detention centers in Ohio do not receive uniform screening for mental health issues, which can affect the youth’s stay.

Initiative: The Taskforce awarded DYS $82,500 to implement a statewide standardized screening process for Ohio's juvenile detention centers and public child service agencies. DYS is currently moving forward with implementing the MAYSI-2, a juvenile mental health screening tool, in detention centers across Ohio.

Taskforce: Juvenile Justice System-Involved Youth

36 times more likely to commit suicide

Often experience periods of isolation American Academy of Child

and Adolescent Psychiatry: creates depression, anxiety, and psychosis

Jails unequipped to provide youth with proper education or youth-trained mental health services

8 times more likely to commit suicide

5 times more likely to be sexually assaulted

Almost twice as likely to be attacked with a weapon by inmates or beaten by staff

Youth in Adult Jails Youth in Adult Prisons

Taskforce: Youth in Adult CourtAccomplishments

Issue: Youth in Ohio can be held in adult jails, which can create or exacerbate mental health issues for youth, especially when held in isolation.

Initiatives: The Subcommittee 1) sent out a survey to jails to examine under what circumstances youth are held in jails and 2) worked to change Ohio’s jail standards to include youth-specific information.

Taskforce: Youth in Adult CourtAccomplishments

Issue: Youth sentenced to life sentences can face difficult gaining parole, despite the fact that they are developmentally different from adults.

Initiatives: The Subcommittee has proposed youth-specific guidelines for the parole board to consider when determining whether to release a youth.

Taskforce: Accomplishments Beyond Juvenile Justice

Awarded additional grants, including to: Provide crisis counseling in two counties’

jails and crisis prevention in two Ohio veteran’s homes

Provide trainings to first responders on elder abuse

Provide a curriculum for peer mentors in veterans’ courts

Increase rental subsidy program for individuals in mental health courts