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OJJDP Observes Child Abuse Prevention Month

Picture of fearful little boyEvery April since 1983, families and communities have come together to observe National Child Abuse Prevention Month by renewing their commitment to raise public awareness and increase knowledge about evidence-based strategies to address the problem.

According to the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence, sponsored by OJJDP and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the reported rate of maltreatment among youth surveyed was 13.8 percent in the year preceding the survey; the reported rate of maltreatment over a lifetime was 25.6 percent. Advances in neuroscience and child development research have taught us that the trauma children experience when they are exposed to physical, sexual, and emotional violence can scar them well into their adult lives.

Following are just a few examples of OJJDP’s ongoing work to assist families, communities, and service providers in promoting the safety and well-being of our nation’s children:

OJJDP's Children’s Exposure to Violence, Crime, and Abuse: An Update presents new research findings on child maltreatment. The recently released Child Forensic Interviewing: Best Practices highlights evidence-based approaches to interviewing children in cases of alleged abuse.

Resources:The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction: A Report to Congress

The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction: A Report to Congress is available on the Justice Department’s website. The report details national efforts to combat child exploitation, provides results of a threat assessment, and outlines the goals for ongoing activities—including investigations, prosecutions, outreach, victim services, and policy initiatives—to address the issue.

Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference Service and the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Child Abuse Prevention Month website to find the latest resources and outreach materials on engaging communities in the prevention of child abuse.

OJJDP’s Model Programs Guide provides comprehensive information and resources on risk factors, protective factors, and evidence-based strategies for assisting children and youth exposed to violence and victimization.


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OJJDP Roundtable Discusses Unintended Consequences of Mandatory and Pro-Arrest Policies on Girls

Photo of Catherine Pierce, Jeanette Pai-Espinoza, Robert L. Listenbee, and Karen Francis.
Roundtable organizers and participants included, from left to right: Catherine Pierce, OJJDP; Jeanette Pai-Espinoza, Codirector, National Girls Initiative; Robert L. Listenbee, OJJDP; and Karen Francis, American Institutes for Research.
On March 10–11, 2016, the OJJDP-funded National Girls Initiative and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) convened a roundtable to discuss the unintended consequences of mandatory and pro-arrest policies for domestic violence on girls and young women. The purpose of the roundtable was to foster collaboration between juvenile justice advocates, advocates for girls, and advocates for victims of domestic violence.

OJJDP Administrator Robert Listenbee welcomed participants to the event and explained that the roundtable is one of the ways the Office is putting the recently issued OJJDP guidance policy on girls and the juvenile justice system into practice so that “deliberately and intentionally, we can make the world more just for girls.” OVW’s Principal Deputy Director, Bea Hanson, also provided welcoming remarks.

Presenters highlighted the origins and historical significance of mandatory and pro-arrest policies for domestic violence and discussed the extent to which those policies have contributed to the rise in the number of girls and young women in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Francine Sherman, a professor at Boston College Law School, attributed the trend, partly, to the criminalization of trauma-inducing behaviors. “Girls have consistently been arrested for the kinds of things they’d be expected to do if they experienced trauma,” she said.

Data from a number of states and counties presented at the roundtable show high proportions of girls are detained on account of “adolescent domestic battery,” or fights with family members.

The meeting was attended by several federal officials, including representatives from the Office of the Vice President, the Office of Management and Budget, the White House Council on Women and Girls, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs. Other attendees included juvenile justice advocates, advocates for girls, advocates for victims of domestic violence, law enforcement representatives, researchers, and select state juvenile justice representatives. As a followup, OJJDP’s National Girls Initiative will prepare a paper that will provide a summary of the issues, propose shared terminology, summarize the current situation, and offer policy and practice reform recommendations and considerations.

Resources:

For an overview of OJJDP’s efforts to address the needs of system-involved and at-risk girls, visit the Office’s Girls at Risk webpage and download OJJDP’s policy guidance on girls and the juvenile justice system.

The OJJDP-commissioned report, Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States, is available online.


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Administrator Listenbee Outlines OJJDP’s Support for Tribal Youth at National Council on Juvenile and Family Court Judges Conference

“The legacy of historical trauma caused by loss of home, land, culture, and language—and the subsequent abuse of Native children in American boarding schools—has had a devastating result, one that continues to reverberate to this day,” acknowledged Administrator Listenbee as he introduced the session, “The Crisis in American Indian Juvenile Justice,” at the National Conference on Juvenile Justice. The conference was hosted by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and took place on March 20–23, 2016, in Las Vegas, NV.

Citing findings from the OJJDP-supported report, Ending Violence So Children Can Thrive, which show that tribal youth are exposed to extreme levels of violence, Mr. Listenbee told attendees that OJJDP is working collaboratively with Native communities to develop and support programs that reflect tribes’ values and help their youth to heal and thrive. He elaborated on federal initiatives to support Native youth, such as the 2015 White House Tribal Youth Gathering. The OJJDP-supported event brought more than 1,000 youth from approximately 200 tribes face to face with senior federal officials who heard about issues important to the youth and their communities. The gathering was part of President Obama’s Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative, an effort to improve the lives of Native youth by seeking out their voices and making more youth-driven investments in their communities.

Other OJJDP initiatives to support tribal youth include welcoming Marilyn Bruguier Zimmerman, a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence, as OJJDP’s Senior Tribal Policy Advisor; requiring that grantees include provisions for tribal youth in their mentoring practices; and providing funding to expand Tribal Healing to Wellness courts. These courts provide developmentally appropriate, community-based, and culturally appropriate services for youth who come into contact with the tribal juvenile justice system because of substance use.

In closing, Mr. Listenbee called on juvenile court judges and other juvenile justice professionals to help improve outcomes for tribal youth by treating them with “dignity and compassion” and informing their families and communities of their whereabouts as an acknowledgment of the sovereignty of their tribal nations.

Resources:

To learn more about OJJDP’s tribal youth programs and services, visit the Office’s website and read Administrator Listenbee's blog.

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Justice Department Adds Three New Sites to Violence Reduction Network
Violence Reduction Network logo

On March 1, 2016, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates and Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Karol V. Mason announced that Milwaukee, WI, New Orleans, LA, and St. Louis, MO, and will join the 10 existing VRN sites. The ten other sites are Camden, NJ, Chicago, IL, Compton, CA, Detroit, MI, Flint, MI, Little Rock, AR, Newark, NJ, Oakland/Richmond, CA, West Memphis, AR, and Wilmington, DE.

The Violence Reduction Network, established in 2014 and administered by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), enhances and improves the capacity of local jurisdictions to address violent crime and increase public safety. VRN builds on efforts already underway, leverages lessons learned, and delivers a broad spectrum of resources, including tailored training and technical assistance, communities of practice, peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and federal law enforcement assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The announcement was made at the third annual Violence Reduction Summit, a 2-day meeting of U.S. Attorneys, police chiefs, sheriffs, mayors, local leaders from the VRN sites, and Department of Justice (DOJ) representatives. Held at the Office of Justice Programs in Washington, DC, the summit featured working sessions to analyze the cities’ violence reduction challenges, discuss the variety of DOJ resources available to address the issues, and develop site plans.

According to Deputy Attorney General Yates, domestic violence homicides in Detroit have dropped 35 percent since city officials began tackling this problem as part of their VRN strategy. In addition, the homicide clearance rate—a measure of crimes solved by police—has increased from 10 percent to more than 50 percent as a result of VRN efforts in Wilmington.

“It has been only a year-and-a-half since we launched the first Violence Reduction Network,” said Yates. “In just that short period of time, the partnerships we have built through VRN have helped to reduce crime rates. These results could only have happened through the kind of creative collaboration promoted through the VRN.”

Cynthia Pappas, Senior Policy Advisor at OJJDP, joined other officials from the DOJ program offices—BJA, the Community Oriented Policing Services Office, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the Office on Violence Against Women—to provide an overview of how DOJ programs, publications, and training and technical assistance can support VRN sites as they engage in violence reduction efforts.

Ms. Pappas discussed the specific opportunities and resources available through OJJDP to help these communities build their capacity to effectively address youth violence, including an award to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, in partnership with the Yale Childhood Violent Trauma Center, to increase the understanding of children exposed to violence among law enforcement leaders and officers. Ms. Pappas also highlighted the work of the BJA- and OJJDP-sponsored National Gang Center and resources available through OJJDP's one-stop technical assistance site, TTA360.

Resources:

To learn more about the Violence Reduction Network, visit the initiative’s website.

To read a press release about the announcement of the three new VRN sites, visit DOJ’s website.

For more information about OJJDP’s youth violence prevention and anti-gang initiatives, visit the Office’s website.

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Justice Department Designates April 24–30 National Reentry Week

Each year, more than 600,000 individuals return to their communities after serving time in federal and state prisons, and another 11.4 million cycle through local jails. And, nearly one in four Americans has an arrest record—mostly for relatively minor, nonviolent offenses. To encourage and highlight federal efforts to improve reentry services and outcomes, the Department of Justice has designated April 24–30, 2016, as National Reentry Week.

left quote By helping individuals return to productive, law-abiding lives, we can reduce crime across the country and make our neighborhoods better places to live.right quote

—Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch

During this week, the Bureau of Prisons will coordinate a reentry event—such as a job fair, mock interview fair, special event for children of incarcerated parents, or a mentorship program—at each of its 122 facilities. Each U.S. Attorney’s Office across 94 federal districts will also coordinate events to raise awareness about the importance of programs designed to improve reentry outcomes.

According to OJJDP’s Statistical Briefing Book, on any given day, approximately 54,000 youth are held in residential placement—almost all of whom will return to their communities someday. OJJDP’s ongoing work to increase positive youth outcomes includes developing and testing new models of juvenile reentry and aftercare services. The Office’s current reentry efforts include—

The Juvenile Reentry Assistance Program. A partnership between OJJDP and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the approximately $1.7 million allocated to this program supports collaborations between HUD-funded organizations, civil legal aid programs, and public defender offices. The collaborations focus primarily on expunging and sealing juvenile records, helping to obtain certificates of rehabilitation, and restoring driver’s licenses to improve the ability of reentering youth to pursue their education, find work, and secure housing. The National Bar Association has committed to supplementing this program with 4,000 hours of pro bono legal services.

The Reentry Toolkit. OJJDP is partnering with the Departments of Education, HUD, Labor, and Health and Human Services to develop and implement a reentry toolkit for youth and families. Scheduled for release by winter 2016, the toolkit will facilitate effective reentry planning for youth and will address multiple barriers to reentry, such as housing, employment and training, education, access to social and legal services, and family and youth engagement.

Second Chance Act Grants. OJJDP is helping to strengthen the relationships between young parents and their children as they transition from correctional facilities back into their families and communities. The Office's Second Chance Act grants will fund programs that incorporate mentoring and reentry services proven to reduce recidivism, teach effective parenting skills, promote public safety, and support positive outcomes for young parents and their children.

Resources:

More information about OJJDP’s reentry and aftercare efforts is available online.

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Upcoming Events

Prisoner’s Family Conference logoInternational Prisoners' Family Conference: May 4–6, 2016

This event, sponsored by Community Solutions of El Paso, will be held in Dallas, TX. Presenters will include professionals and advocates from the criminal justice, social service, academic, and faith-based arenas. Registration information is available online.

35th Annual National CASA/GAL Conference: June 4–7, 2016

Court Appointed Special Advocates Association logoAt this event, sponsored by the National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Association, CASA and guardian ad litem staff, board members, volunteers, judges, attorneys, and other child welfare professionals will gather to connect with peers and learn from leaders in the field. The conference will offer workshops and institutes, general sessions, and an exhibit hall featuring information and resources for the field. The conference will take place in National Harbor, MD. Registeration information is available online.

13th Global Youth Justice Training Institute: June 14–16, 2016

Teen court logoThis training institute, hosted by Global Youth Justice, is designed for individuals and teams of adults from communities interested in expanding, enhancing, and learning about volunteer-driven youth justice and juvenile justice diversion programs referred to as teen court, youth court, student court, peer court, and peer jury. The 3-day training will include adult peer-to-peer training sessions and a half-day grant writing and funding resources session. The institute will take place in Provincetown, MA. Registration information is available online.

National Conference on School Discipline: June 19–22, June 28–July 1, November 11–13, 2016

This event, to be held in Atlanta, GA, will assemble internationally recognized experts and speakers who will offer presentations on evidence-based programs as well as promising new approaches developed by practitioners in the area of school discipline. Topics covered during the conference will include supportive, nonexclusionary disciplinary practices, updated tools and strategies for behavior interventions, insights for school administrators from nationally acclaimed programs, working with minority students, legal issues for educators, and ensuring equity in disciplinary practices. The conference will also be held in Las Vegas, NV, on June 28–July 1; and in Toronto, Canada, on November 11–13. Registration information is available online.

 

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges 79th Annual Conference: July 17–20, 2016

To be held in Monterey, CA, this conference will feature training tracks on family law, juvenile justice, child welfare, and family violence. Presentations will include practical and innovative solutions to challenges facing the juvenile and family court system. The event is hosted by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Registration information is available online.

11th Annual National School Safety Conference and Exposition: July 25–29, 2016

To be held in Orlando, FL, this conference will focus on national best practices and proven localized programs and efforts. The conference will include presentations by experts from the federal government, law enforcement, and education. The conference is sponsored by the School Safety Advocacy Council. Registration information is available online.

19th Annual International Gang Specialist Training Conference: August 8–10, 2016

Sponsored by the National Gang Crime Research Center, this conference provides more than 100 courses in many areas of expertise designed to "train the trainer" in law enforcement, corrections, prosecution, K–12 schools, prevention, and intervention. The conference will be held in Chicago, IL. Registration information is available online.

28th Annual Crimes Against Children Conference: August 8–11, 2016

Crimes against children conference logoThis event provides practical instruction using current information, new ideas, and successful intervention strategies to those professionals responsible for combating the many and varied forms of crimes against children. The event, sponsored by the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center, is designed for law enforcement officers, child protection caseworkers, probation/parole officers, children's advocacy center staff, victim advocates, prosecutors, medical professionals, and therapists. Registration information is available online.

Investigative Strategies for Child Abduction Cases: September 12–15, 2016

AMBER alert logoThis no-cost training will provide law enforcement investigators and investigative supervisors with the information necessary to properly understand, recognize, and investigate cases involving missing and abducted children. The training includes an overview of the scope and scale of issues related to missing and abducted children; available resources; strategies for managing a missing or abducted child case, including initial response; interviewing and interrogation techniques; crime scene evidence collection and processing; and legal issues related to search warrants and interrogation. The 4-day training, sponsored by OJJDP and the AMBER Alert Program, will take place in Franklin, WI. Register by August 1, 2016. Registration information is available online.

See other available trainings, including Advanced Cold Case Long-Term Investigations, Major Case Investigative Teams, Digital Evidence, Child Abduction Response Team, and Advanced Investigative Strategies for Child Abduction Cases on the Amber Alert Program website.

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News in Brief

Smart on Juvenile Justice Meeting Focuses on Best Practices, Information Sharing, and Implementation

On March 24–25, 2016, OJJDP convened 34 representatives from Smart on Juvenile Justice states—Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, South Dakota, and West Virginia.

Following a welcome from Administrator Listenbee, staff from the Crime & Justice Institute (CJI) at Community Resources for Justice conducted a survey to assess attendees’ experience in myriad areas, as well as their training and technical assistance (TTA) needs. CJI provides TTA to participating states as part of the initiative’s comprehensive strategy for juvenile justice reform.

Attendees were brought together to participate in peer-to-peer exchanges and to share lessons learned and innovative solutions to obstacles and challenges. In her closing remarks to the group on March 25, the Office of Justice Programs' Assistant Attorney General Karol V. Mason lauded the state representatives for leading the way on statewide juvenile justice reform.

OJJDP Welcomes Three Leadership Excellence and Achievement Program Detailees

OJJDP is pleased to host three new detailees on 4-month assignments under the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Leadership Excellence and Achievement Program.

DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility Program Analyst Shamelle Lyles is working with the State and Community Development team in the area of youth violence prevention, specifically helping to plan the June summit of the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention.

Subha Chennubhotla, a Quality Assurance Program Manager in DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review is supporting the work of the Juvenile Justice System Improvement division. In addition to other activities, she will help to develop resources and tools for the Juvenile Reentry Subcommittee.

Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Assistant General Counsel C. Darnell Stroble currently serves as BOP’s Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act litigation attorney and public liaison. He is supporting OJJDP’s youth violence prevention work via the State and Community Development team, specifically focusing on planning the June summit of the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention.

OJJDP-Funded Publication Reports on the Needs of LGBTQ Youth Engaged in Survival Sex

The Urban Institute has released Access to Safety: Health Outcomes, Substance Use and Abuse, and Service Provision for LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Who Engage in Survival Sex. The OJJDP-funded report focuses on youth who engage in survival sex and are self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ); young men who have sex with men (YMSM); and young women who have sex with women (YWSW).

The report describes their health issues, substance use, and treatment service experiences. This is the third and final report from a study on LGBTQ youth, YMSM, and YWSW who engage in survival sex in New York City.

Access previous reports in the OJJDP-funded series—Surviving the Streets of New York: Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex and Locked In: Interactions With the Criminal Justice and Child Welfare Systems for LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Who Engage in Survival Sex.

Model Indian Juvenile Code Available for Public Comment

Bureau of Indian Affairs SealThe Department of the Interior has announced a May 27, 2016, deadline for public comment on the proposed 2016 Model Indian Juvenile Code.

“The code provides federal guidance for tribal governments to help protect the rights of Indian juveniles and their parents, guardians, or custodians while also respecting tribal governments’ need to modify juvenile codes to fit each unique tribal community,” said Lawrence Roberts, Acting Assistant Secretary–Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Affairs. “The 2016 Model Indian Juvenile Code improves decades-old guidance to aid tribes in developing their own codes that will serve and protect those who end up in the juvenile justice system.”

The code was initially created by the National Indian Justice Center in 1988. A memorandum of understanding between the Departments of Justice, the Interior, and Health and Human Services to address alcohol and substance abuse issues for Native American youth requires updates to the code.

OJJDP has provided significant insight into the new draft provisions. “We support a developmental and trauma-informed approach to reform that better meets the needs of tribal youth at risk or involved in the juvenile justice system,” said OJJDP Administrator Robert Listenbee. “The updated code reflects such an approach.”

A listening session and four tribal consultations have been held to garner public comments. Written comments may be submitted by May 27, 2016, via e-mail to [email protected] or mailed to:

Natasha Anderson, Deputy Associate Director
Tribal Justice Support Directorate
Office of Justice Services
Bureau of Indian Affairs
1849 C Street NW, MS-2603-MIB
Washington, DC 20240

Justice Department Welcomes Eddie Martin, Jr., as Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Eddie Martin, Jr., former Special Assistant for the U.S. Department of Education’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has joined the Justice Department (DOJ) as Director of DOJ’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP). CFBNP creates and strengthens partnerships with nonprofit organizations engaged in justice-related issues that correspond to several OJJDP-related program areas. They include preventing youth violence, promoting responsible fatherhood, providing effective reentry programs for incarcerated individuals, and advancing support services for the children of incarcerated parents. It also collaborates with 12 other Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships coordinated by the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (OFBNP).

Mr. Martin is an ordained minister and chaplain for the 360th Civil Affairs Brigade in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is also a Ph.D. candidate in Eastern University’s Marriage and Family Therapy Program, and serves as youth minister at the Washington, DC-based Nineteenth Street Baptist Church. Mr. Martin has participated in the Religious and Foreign Policy Working Group at the State Department and is a former White House OFBNP intern.

Bureau of Justice Statistics Reports Rise in Allegations of Sexual Victimization at Juvenile Correctional Facilities

Thumbnail of BJS Report Sexual Victimization Reported by Juvenile Correctional Authorities, 2007–12Two recently released Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) companion reports, Sexual Victimization Reported by Juvenile Correctional Authorities, 2007–12 and Survey of Sexual Violence in Juvenile Correctional Facilities, 2007–12–Statistical Tables, show rises in allegations of sexual victimization in both state facilities and local and private facilities between 2011 and 2012. These figures further emphasize the importance of OJJDP’s efforts related to diversion, alternatives to incarceration, and juvenile justice system reform.

According to BJS data, in 2012, juvenile correctional administrators reported 865 allegations of sexual victimization in state facilities, up from 735 in 2011, and 613 allegations in local and private facilities, up from 382 in 2011. From 2007 to 2012, juvenile correctional administrators in state systems, facilities in Indian country, and locally or privately operated facilities reported nearly 9,500 allegations of sexual victimization. Of the total allegations reported, 2,750 were of nonconsensual sexual acts, 2,463 were of abusive sexual contact, 3,617 involved staff sexual misconduct, and 664 were of staff sexual harassment. More than half of the allegations involved youth-on-youth sexual victimization, and 45 percent involved staff-on-youth victimization.

Data used in the reports are compiled from BJS's Survey of Sexual Victimization, which has been conducted annually since 2004.

Read a press release about the reports.


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