Court Cafe Library
Connecticut Juvenile Justice
Voice, Choice & Hope, Juvenile Justice Consensus Document, Darlene Dunbar, MSW, Commissioner Department of Children and Families, January 20, 2006. [pdf] cite: kidscounsel.org
Connecticut Joint Juvenile Services Strategic Plan: In January 2005, the Connecticut Department of Children, Youth, and Families and the Judicial Branch (Court Support Services Division) began a working process to develop a joint juvenile justice strategic plan. CWLA is facilitating the development of an interagency juvenile justice strategic plan that will guide the delivery of services and efficient allocation of resources within the Connecticut juvenile justice system over three to five years.
cite: cwla.org
Connecticut study disputes effectiveness of alternative programs for juveniles: cite: JuvenileJustice.com, published Dec/Jan 2003
Close to Home [pdf]: February 2003. A Report on the Behavioral Health Services for Children in Connecticut’s Juvenile Justice System The culmination of a year-long study of behavioral health resources available to children in Connecticut's juvenile justice system, this report offers an analysis of current services, contrasts them with successful national effective practices and makes recommendations for system enhancements. cite: chdi.org
Report of the Child Advocate and Attorney General regarding Connecticut Juvenile Training School (html): September 19, 2002: Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and state Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein today released a report of their investigation into conditions at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School.
"This investigation explored allegations of deficiencies at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, especially safety issues concerning youth. The purpose was to develop recommendations to improve the overall programming and services at the facility. Key issues that were examined included suicide prevention, excessive use of restraints and seclusion, lack of an adequate behavior modification system, staff overtime and morale issues." cite: Office of the Child Advocate, ct.gov/oca/
Connecticut Juvenile Training School Report (pdf): September 19, 2002: Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and state Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein.
". . . we conclude that the Department of Children and Families failed in its obligations to the children at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School. The Department of Children and Families failed to properly plan for the opening of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School and failed to meet the needs of the children there. This is all the more problematic since the facility is a brand
new facility that was supposed to be a state of the art "model" facility which has already cost nearly $90 million to develop and operate. Appropriate steps, such as those outlined in our recommendations, should be taken immediately to ensure that the needs of the children at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School are met in the future." Dated at Hartford, Connecticut, this the 19th day of September 19, 2002. cite: ct.gov/ag/
A Reassessment of Minority Overrepresentation in Connecticut's Juvenile Justice System [pdf]: From Eliot C. Hartstone, Ph.D.and Dorinda M. Richetelli, June 5, 2001. A look at the extent to which Black and Hispanic juveniles 10 - 16 years of age are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system across the state of Connecticut. cite: opm.state.ct.us
State Statutes on Juvenile Interagency Information & Record Sharing [pdf]. cite: dept.fvtc.edu
Juveniles Justice & Substance Abuse
Criminal Neglect: Substance Abuse, Juvenile Justice and The Children Left Behind, October 2004, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Chairman and President. (.pdf)
Among its key findings are these:
- Four of every five children and teens (78.4 percent) in juvenile justice systems - 1.9 of 2.4 million arrests of 10- to 17-year olds - are under the influence of alcohol or drugs while committing their crime, test positive for drugs, are arrested for committing an alcohol or drug offense, admit having substance abuse and addiction problems, or share some combination of these characteristics.
- Of the 1.9 million arrests of juvenile offenders with substance abuse and addiction problems, only about 68,600 juveniles - 3.6 percent - receive any form of substance abuse treatment. Mental health services are scarce and most education programs do not meet even minimum state educational criteria. As a result of their failure to address these problems, juvenile justice systems, originally conceived as institutions to help young offenders get on the path to law-abiding lives, have become colleges of criminality, paving the way to further crimes and adult incarceration for many graduates. At least 30 percent of adults in prison for felony crimes were incarcerated as juveniles.
Funded by: William T. Grant Foundation, National Institute on Drug Abuse, The Abercrombie Foundation. cite: casacolumbia.org
Juvenile Justice
The Economics of Juvenile Jurisdiction: September 6, 2005: A White Paper From the Research Round Table on Estimating the Costs and Benefits of the Separate Juvenile Justice System, by John Roman & Jeffrey Butts cite: urban.org
Juvenile Suicide
Youth Violence Research Bulletin Series - Juvenile Suicides: From the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention The Surgeon General's report on youth violence, released in January 2001, notes that youth violence is a serious public health issue that affects millions of children and their families. The Youth Violence Research Bulletin Series is the most recent endeavor in the OJJDP-CDC partnership. The reports linked below were prepared by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice and written by Howard N. Snyder, Ph.D., Director of Systems Research, National Center for Juvenile Justice, and Monica H. Swahn, Ph.D., Senior Service Fellow, Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Introduction: Between 1981 and 1998, 20,775 juveniles ages 7-17 committed suicide in the United States - nearly as many as were homicide or cancer victims. Males were the victims in 78% of these juvenile suicides. Over the same period, the suicide rate for American Indian juveniles was far higher than for any other race. [LEARN MORE]
- Suicide was the fourth leading cause of death for juveniles older than age 6: Unintentional injuries were the leading cause of death for youth ages 7-17 between 1981 and 1998. The second leading cause of death for juveniles ages 7-17 was homicide (27,000). [LEARN MORE]
- Juvenile males were more likely to commit suicide than juvenile females: Between 1981 and 1998, boys ages 7-17 were more than three times as likely as girls of the same age group to commit suicide in the US. The manner in which juvenile girls committed suicide differed from that of boys. [LEARN MORE]
- American Indian youth were far more likely to commit suicide than youth of other races: [LEARN MORE]
- Suicides involving black juveniles increased substantially between 1981 and 1994: The peak year for juvenile suicides in the 1981-98 period was 1994. Between 1981 and 1994, the number of juvenile suicides increased 44%. The increase was greater for males (51%) than females (24%) and substantially greater for black youth (230%) than white youth (32%). [LEARN MORE]
- White youth and American Indian youth were at greater risk of suicide than murder: From 1981 to 1998, white and American Indian youth ages 7-17 were approximately 1.5 times more likely to commit suicide than to be murdered. [LEARN MORE]
- The relative risk of suicide increased substantially with age for white juveniles.: Between ages 13 and 17, the threat of suicide increased, so that by age 17, a white youth's death was 56% more likely to be a suicide than a murder. [LEARN MORE]
- Most juvenile suicides involved firearms: Over the 1981-98 period, the suicides of white youth and black youth were more likely to involve firearms than were those of American Indian youth or Asian youth. [LEARN MORE]
- Use of firearms in homicides and suicides varied by gender and race: Although percentages of both firearm and nonfirearm related suicides increased between 1981 and 1994, the growth in juvenile suicides was tied to a greater increase in suicides involving firearms than in suicides involving other methods. [LEARN MORE]
- Trends in juvenile suicides and murders were largely tied to firearms: Between 1981 and 1994, the number of juvenile suicides increased 44%, with firearm-related suicides accounting for 80% of this growth. [LEARN MORE]
The Rights of Children
Convention on the Rights of the Child: This convention bans discrimination against children and provides for special protection and rights appropriate to minors. The copy of the Convention on the Rights of the Child presently accessible through this page is a fully-indexed HTML document. Last edited on January 27, 1997. cite: Convention on the Rights of the Child, U.N. General Assembly, Document A/RES/44/25 (12 December 1989) with Annex
The Future of Children (futureofchildren.org): The Lucille and David Packard Foundation funds multiple initiatives in the US to improve the well being of children. One such initiative is a publication called The Future of Children is a FREE publication that brings together the very best thinking and data on each issue covered. Topics have included the rights of children to health care, and rights of children in divorce and custody disputes, children's health care in an era of managed care, and juvenile justice.
