The prevention of juvenile crime through after-school and summer programs, access to mental health care and early intervention services is cost effective and it is being "smart on crime." A child's capacity to fully understand the implications of their actions is not the same as an adult. A system developed to deal with juvenile offenders must be restorative and treatment oriented.
Reforming the Arkansas Juvenile Justice System
During the past three years Arkansas has created a task force of stakeholders, commissioned a comprehensive review of its juvenile justice system, developed a vision and set long-term goals for system change, and held regional meetings to discuss the comprehensive strategy for making changes and reforming the state's approach to juvenile justice. These include redirecting resources from incarceration and punishment to prevention and treatment to ensure more effective and less costly services, leading to greater public safety for the citizens of the state. This means that youth and their families receive services in the community where they live, that these services are evidence-based and show effective outcomes, and that they are strength-based and empower youth and families to succeed.
You can help reform the juvenile justice system in Arkansas:
- Use the "Truth of Youth" toolkit created to help advocates educate the public about the need for reform in Arkansas.
- Look at examples of Letter to the Editor and Letter to Policy Maker to compose your own letter in support of these reforms.
The Pew Center on the State has released an issue brief: Arkansas: Improving Public Safety and Containing Corrections Costs to explain why state lawmakers are considering data-driven alternatives that will contain prison growth and corrections spending while protecting public safety.
Publications
Juvenile Justice in Arkansas: A Long Road to a Promising Future.
Arkansas is at a critical turning point in juvenile justice reform, according to a new report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. The state should take advantage of a drop in juvenile crime rates to move from an institution-based system to one that allows youth to be treated for underlying problems in their communities, according to the report. Juvenile Justice in Arkansas: A Long Road to a Promising Future (January 2009)
Locked Up & Out: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth in Louisiana's Juvenile Justice System
This report discusses how LGBT youth are disproportionately affected by the juvenile justices system and more likely to be funneled into the deep end of the system. It addresses the particular challenges that they face once there, and the lack of resources available to meet their specific needs. Most importantly, the report looks at the policy, administrative, and programming solutions that can be employed in order to ensure a safe environment for the most vulnerable in the state's care.