Abby Anderson, Executive Director Lara Herscovitch, Sr. Policy Analyst 6 th Annual Connecticut Data Showcase Conference April 27, 2011

Abby Anderson, Executive Director

Lara Herscovitch, Sr. Policy Analyst

6th Annual Connecticut Data Showcase Conference

April 27, 2011

Mission

The mission of the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance is to

(A) reduce the number of children and youth entering the juvenile and criminal justice systems, and

(B) advocate a safe, effective, and fair system for those involved.

Priorities and Strategies

– Legislative Education and Advocacy

– Strategic Communications

– Community Organizing

– National / State / Local Partnerships (esp LISTs)

Today’s Agenda

Understanding CT’s Juvenile Justice System

– Who is in our system?– What reform has been underway?– What has it achieved?– Where is the intersection between jj and education

systems?– Does race matter in terms of how kids are treated by the

juvenile justice system and, if so, how?

Of everyone arrested in CT, how many

are children and youth?

What are our children and youth being arrested for?

What is the gender make up of the juvenile justice system?

Good news:

Over the past ten years,

reforms have significantly reduced the size of the entire juvenile

justice system, from front end to deep end.

Fewer kids going to court

System Shrinking

System ShrinkingFewer kids in court for delinquency AND FWSN…

2006 – 2009 Delinquency

2006 14,280

2007 13,302

2008 11,421

2009 9,763

2006 – 2009 FWSN

2006 4,560

2007 3,833

2008 2,764

2009 2,475

Source: CT Judicial Branch; Court Management Information System

Fewer kids in detention

Source: Judicial Branch

System Shrinking

System Shrinking

Fewer kids committed to DCF

Number of kids sent to Connecticut Juvenile Training School (juvenile

prison) is holding steady

2009 203 admissions 2008 201 admissions 2007 189 admissions 2006 215 admissions

Source: DCF CJTS Reports to Legislature, 06-09

System Shrinking

As of January 1, 2010, 16-year-olds are considered juveniles for all but the most serious crimes. (Only 2 states treat all 16 year-olds as adults.)

17 year-olds still “adults” in CT no matter how minor their crime. They join juvenile justice system July 1, 2012. (Only 10 other states treat all 17 year-olds as adults.)

Raise the Age:the impact of 16-year-olds

• Projected system increase: 40%

• Actual system increase: 22%


Even with the addition of 16-year-olds,

court referrals are below levels in 2006-07

FY 06-07 Delinquency, FWSN, YIC 19,242

CY 2010 Delinquency, FWSN, YIC 16,275

Even with 16-year-olds,detention is below ’06 levels


2010 211 admissions2009 203 admissions 2008 201 admissions 2007 189 admissions 2006 215 admissions

Even with 16 year-olds, CJTS admissions have not seen a major impact (2011 will be more telling)

Source: DCF CJTS Annual Reports to Legislature 06-10

Why is the systemshrinking?

• Smart investments in prevention• A commitment to serve kids in the least

restrictive environment• Home-based, evidence-based, family-

centric interventions• e.g., FWSN reform, Family Support

Centers

What are the results of a shrinking system?

• No increase in crime, juvenile crime rate still falling• More appropriate services• Community services cheaper than institutions

– 6 months of MST = $9,000*– 6 months at CJTS = $133,920**

• 16-year-olds incorporated with zero capitol costs and fewer programmatic and staff costs than anticipated

• More room to add 17-year-olds at lower cost than expected

*Judicial Branch, Court Support Services Division**CJTS Advisory Board Report to the Legislature, January 2010

Where is the intersection of juvenile justice and education?

• Connecting the dots:

– School Climate – Vision and Approach to Discipline– Suspension– Expulsion– Arrest– Presence of SROs or patrol officers– Relationship between district and PD– Reentry policies and practices

Education and JJKeep kids in school.

“Students should be removed from the school setting only under the most exceptional circumstances...That is why we need policies like this that keep students in school, not at home. Keeping children out of school is a direct line to delinquent behavior. Students get farther behind in their course work. They lose hope of catching up. It’s a recipe for failure.”

– Governor M. Jodi Rell, June 28, 2007

Education and JJ

How do kids get into the juvenile justice system from the education system?

• FWSN – about 50% of all FWSN referrals are for truancy

• Arrest and other exclusionary discipline practices

Education and JJ

Are school-based disciplinary sanctions administered fairly?

Education and JJ

Are school-based disciplinary sanctions administered fairly?

NO• Twice as likely for African-Americans• Almost 3x as likely for Latinos• Twice as likely for males• Twice as likely for special education students

Source: CT State Department of Education, 2011

Education and JJ

Truancy

•Awareness Raising – FWSN laws, available programs and services. Expansion of Family Support Center and FSC services statewide.

•Prevention and Early Intervention

Center for Children’s Advocacy leading these efforts


Reduce the use of discipline strategies that remove kids from schools.

Sign at a Bridgeport high school


Arrests at school

Children much more likely to be arrested in school today, many for offenses that could be better handled within school (remove hat, yell in hallway, etc.). Behavior is “inappropriate but developmentally understandable.”

Why?•Zero tolerance policies, lack of discipline alternatives•Increased pressures on schools and increased presence of police in schools•Lack of clarity regarding police role in schools

Education and JJLimited School-Based Arrest Data…

But Not for Long.

Waterbury 2008: HALF of all juvenile arrests happened between 8am and 3pm, Monday to Friday

Ansonia and Windsor 2009-10: 65%+ of arrests were for disturbance / breach of peace

Judicial Branch collecting school-based arrest data:• statewide baseline• Annie E. Casey Foundation project pilot sites

(Manchester, Stamford, Willimantic, plus Middletown)

• more (and all) to follow

Education and JJAlliance activities: keeping kids in school.

•Awareness-Raising : panels and reports•Limit offenses for which out-of-school/arrest is an option•Get data!

• How many kids are arrested in school / district and for what offenses?

•Give educators and police discretion and opportunity to

use common sense. • Zero tolerance = Zero intelligence

•Legislative clarity around reentry policies and practices – accepting credits, no double-jeopardy expulsion, etc.

Does race/ethnicity effect how children are treated in the juvenile justice system?

YES

Do we know how race/ethnicity effects how children are treated?

YES

Race Matters

We believe that

ALL youth in the juvenile justice system should be treated equally, regardless of their race or

ethnicity.

This is not the case. We have DMC in Connectict.

Race Matters

“Disproportionate Minority Contact” (DMC) = Youth of color receive different treatment by the juvenile justice system than their white peers,

leading to more negative outcomes.

Race Matters

What is DMC?

What states have

Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC)?

Race Matters

All of them

Race Matters

Juvenile Justice & Hispanic Kids

Percentage of CT under-18 population

that is Hispanic

14%

Percentage of CT juvenile justice population that is Hispanic

20%

Juvenile Justice & Black Kids


that is Black

12%

Percentage of CT juvenile justice population that is Black

35%

Juvenile Justice & White Kids


that is White

75%

Percentage of CT juvenile justice population that is White

35%

Why are there more kids of colorin the juvenile justice system?

Race Matters


Do kids of color commit more crimethan white kids?

Race Matters


Do kids of color commit more crimethan white kids?

NOIn national surveys, including one by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kids of all races and ethnicities self-report committing the same crimes at very similar rates.

Kids of all races and ethnicities do the same things. But we treat kids of color more harshly.

Race Matters

Race MattersWhy are there more kids of color

in the juvenile justice system?

Is Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) a result of poverty?



Is Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC)a result of poverty?

NOConnecticut studies of DMC looked at how coming from a low-income neighborhood affects treatment. Poverty is a disadvantage, but it does not fully account for the difference in how a kid is treated.



Is it simply because there’s more crime in cities, where many of them live?



Is it simply because there’s more crime in cities, where many of them live?

NOWe actually see a greater disparity in the treatment of minority youth in rural and suburban Connecticut than in the state’s cities.

Race MattersWhere is the DMC in Connecticut’s

juvenile justice system?

CT Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee

research by Spectrum Associates15 “decision points”

how kids are handled after arrest through DCF commitmentDoes not include decision to arrest7 show Disproportionate Minority Contact

Race Matters7 Decision Points WITH Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC):

Black Hispanic White

1. Referred to court

2. Placed in secure holding

3. Taken to detention

4. Released from detention prior to case disposition

5. Transferred to adult court

6. Time spent in CJTS

7. Time spent in non-secure facility

The data covers a sampling of police cases from 2005-2006, juvenile court recordsfrom 2006 and Department of Children and Families records from 2005-2007.

Race Matters8 Decision Points WITHOUT Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC):

Black Hispanic White

1. Brought to police station (versus released)

2. Length of time in secure holding

3. Length of time in detention

4. Type of handling (case in front of a judge or probation officer)

5-6. For cases in front of a judge, how many kids were found guilty and what the consequences were for being found guilty (i.e., placement in CJTS, residential, home / on probation)

7. For cases that didn’t go in front of a judge, the outcome (supervision, discharge)

8. Percentage of DCF commitment completed

The data covers a sampling of police cases from 2005-2006, juvenile court recordsfrom 2006 and Department of Children and Families records from 2005-2007.

Race Matters

Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) is something we can change.

Because we know exactly where in the system these problems exist, we can target those decision points and demand accountability and equality.

Race Matters

DMC is in everyone’s interest to change.• Offends our shared values of equality /

equal opportunity• Diminishes a child’s long-term chances• Wastes state resources by putting kids

in the system who don’t need to be there

To RecapYouth make up less than 10% of justice system. Raise the Age is halfway implemented, so far so

good.Overall system is much smaller today than it was a

decade ago – crime is lower, fewer kids in detention or prison, community-based care more effective and cheaper.

Education and justice systems overlap. Address that by giving schools tools and supports to keep kids in school.

Race is a factor in how kids are treated by our system. We know where those racial decisions occur so we can make changes.

Questions?Comments?

Check out www.ctjja.org to learn more or get involved

Documents

Abby Anderson, Executive Director Lara Herscovitch, Sr. Policy Analyst 6 th Annual Connecticut Data Showcase Conference April 27, 2011