adult court

The movement to raise the age of juvenile justice systems around the country is continuing, with several states considering a move beyond the age of 18. At least nine states are expected to consider proposals that would expand the jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system during the current legislative season, according to a press briefing held last week by the Campaign for Youth Justice.

Just hours before the end of this year’s legislative session, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed into law several far-reaching juvenile justice bills. Brown endorsed a bill that will prevent the transfer of 14- and 15-year-olds into adult criminal court; provide internet access for youth in foster care and the juvenile justice system; bar children ages 11 and younger from the jurisdiction of the juvenile court; and limit the amount of time youth who are deemed mentally incompetent can spend in juvenile halls, among other legislation.

“Getting to Zero,” a product of years of work by author Neelum Arya and law students at the UCLA Jail Removal Project, pieces together everything there is to know about one of the biggest blind spots in youth services: how many kids end up in adult jails, where are they, and why are they there?

In a sad twist of irony, Michigan legislators and advocates hoping to improve the state’s juvenile justice system ran out of time this year because of how long it took to address one of the biggest child abuse scandals in American history.

In Youth Services Insider’s opinion, there are two glaring blind spots when it comes to data about how the child welfare and juvenile justice systems impact kids. One is the success rate of adoptions from foster care.

After a plan to create a new young adult prison system in California failed last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is moving forward with two proposals to serve more juveniles and some young adults in the state’s juvenile prisons.

For three straight years now, a federally-commissioned study on the transfer of juveniles into the criminal court system has been delayed. But it looks like we might finally see this thing in 2017.

On Tuesday, California voters signed off on a ballot measure that will reform some of its criminal sentencing policies, including overturning a law that has led to the prosecution of thousands of youth in adult courts since 2003.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Campaign for Youth Justice, an organization founded by Liz Ryan with help from the Public Welfare Foundation to directly take on the use of adult courts to prosecute juvenile offenders.