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Eight years after her 14-year-old cousin was shot and killed by law enforcement during a mental health crisis, Los Angeles youth activist E.V. is closely watching the protests against police brutality that have now gripped every major American city. 

Lisa Jarrett presides over what’s known as the crossover docket in Bexar County, Texas, where she handles cases involving youth known to both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Jarrett says that bundling all the cases of a dual-status youth reduces replication of services and helps the child understand what they need to do to comply with the court — after all, with two separate cases come separate judges, court dates and orders.

A New York State appellate court expressed sympathy for New York City using  arrest warrants to bring runaway and possibly unstable foster youth into custody. But ultimately, the court ruled, there is no compelling reason within the law for family courts to approve such warrants for youth who have not broken any law.

For the first time since 2002, the law governing national juvenile justice standards has been reauthorized by Congress. The bill will now head to President Trump’s desk, possibly ending a long string of disappointments for juvenile justice advocates who tried in vain to update the law during the administration of Barack Obama.

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a $200 billion budget last week that includes significant investments for the state’s child welfare and juvenile justice systems, though many of those are on a one-time basis.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this month on school discipline with a topline finding that “black students, boys and students with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) in K-12 public schools.”

In August, the Obama Administration proposed new rules related to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, which remains funded by Congress but has not been reauthorized since 2002.

The sun will soon set on a year of great upheaval in the American cultural fabric. The Chicago Cubs are World Series champions. It seemed like a different famous musician or thespian died every day.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention recently published a report by several researchers on the groundbreaking “Pathways to Desistance” project, which tracked about 1,300 serious juvenile offenders from the Phoenix and Philadelphia areas for seven years after conviction.