Policy Tool
By understanding the conditions facing incarcerated youth, the responsibility of the justice system, and strategies designed to improve outcomes, stakeholders can make informed decisions. After arming readers with the historical timeline necessary to understand Texas’ complicated history with its juvenile justice system, LSJA’s Reimagining Reform report issues a challenge to stakeholders during a crucial time…
A new study by The Pew Charitable Trusts shows that young people assigned to probation after their first offense are more likely to be rearrested in the future, particularly for technical violations, than their peers diverted away from probation. The study, based on data provided by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) and analyzed by…
This report describes the process of developing or cultivating purpose and explains why purpose is one of the key aspects of healthy development in adolescence. Cultivating purpose is widely beneficial for adolescents, and it is particularly important for adolescents from traditionally underserved groups. Purpose is essentially a renewable resource that has the potential to benefit…
The focus of this paper is on the experience of Black adolescents who are growing up amidst evolving national beliefs about racism, ongoing political debate surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, and a growing national awareness about the experience of being Black in America.
The work described herein articulates a way forward for the NIH to continue to improve youth mental health and to reduce YMHD through supporting rigorous, impactful research. However, the urgency of the youth mental health crisis and YMHD is so pressing that many NIH ICOs have already begun this important work, particularly through supporting research.…
This report examines racial disparities, policing landscapes, and budgets in twelve jurisdictions across the country, comparing the city and county spending priorities with those of community organizations and their members. While many community members, supported by research and established best practices, assert that increased spending on police do not make them safer, cities and counties…
This report presents the evolution of the second look movement, which started with ensuring compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Graham v. Florida (2010) and Miller v. Alabama (2012) on the constitutionality of juvenile life without parole (“JLWOP”) sentences.12 This reform has more recently expanded to other types of sentences and populations, such…
A concentration of a few states has unevenly complied with Miller and the possibility of resentencing provided by Montgomery. Some states have refused to comply at all. This uneven implementation of the Miller decision has a particularly profound impact on racial disparities among those serving JLWOP. An analysis of those deemed worth protecting from JLWOP…
This report is an update to the December 2022 report that analyzed incidents of violence by school police officers against students and the disproportionate impact on Black and Latino/a students attending low-income schools. This update provides additional incidents from the 2022-2023 school year and more context about the reported incidents, such as geographical region and…
The Sentencing Project released three factsheets highlighting racial disparities in the incarceration of youth: Black Disparities in Youth Incarceration, Disparities in Tribal Youth Incarceration, and Latinx Disparities in Youth Incarceration. These factsheets highlight youth placement rates in 2021 by state and demonstrate that racial disparities persist. Notably, Black youth nationwide are nearly five times more…
The Sentencing Project released three factsheets highlighting racial disparities in the incarceration of youth: Black Disparities in Youth Incarceration, Disparities in Tribal Youth Incarceration, and Latinx Disparities in Youth Incarceration. These factsheets highlight youth placement rates in 2021 by state and demonstrate that racial disparities persist. Notably, Black youth nationwide are nearly five times more…
The Sentencing Project released three factsheets highlighting racial disparities in the incarceration of youth: Black Disparities in Youth Incarceration, Disparities in Tribal Youth Incarceration, and Latinx Disparities in Youth Incarceration. These factsheets highlight youth placement rates in 2021 by state and demonstrate that racial disparities persist. Notably, Black youth nationwide are nearly five times more…
This report details findings from the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (The Expert Mechanism), who were appointed by the president of the Human Rights Council in 2021 with a mandate to examine the human rights of Black communities in the U.S. as they relate to police interaction…
This report highlights the importance of reducing the juvenile legal system’s reliance on incarceration by calling for systems reform that centers alternative-to-incarceration programs, adolescent development research, and evidence-based approaches. Highlighting successful state and local laws as well as policies and practices from across the country, the report offers examples of reforms like prohibiting the use…
This infographic details statistics on the overrepresentation of Native and Indigenous communities in the criminal legal system, noting in particular that the incarceration rate of American Indian/Alaska Native communities increased 60 percent from 1990 to 2020. It cautions that current data collection practices on Native and Indigenous communities are often incomplete and inaccurate due to…
In 2020, after the District of Columbia Court of Appeals released its decision in In re N.H.M., expanding DC youths’ access to post-disposition counsel, Open City Advocates, which represented N.H.M., contacted the Gault Center to explore how to support the expansion of post-disposition representation in other jurisdictions. We reviewed analyses of post-disposition representation of youth,…
In February 2024, the American Psychological Association released a resolution detailing evidence-based recommendations to limit and eventually eliminate the use of solitary confinement on youth. Key recommendations include prohibiting solitary confinement except under exigent circumstances, the duration of which generally should not exceed four hours, and prioritizing evidence-based strategies that promote positive youth development in…
