Girls in the Juvenile Justice System

1
Girls in the Juvenile Justice System
2
The Problem Exploding Numbers

• Girls are the fastest growing segment of the
  juvenile justice population.
• Between 1980 and 2000, the arrest rates for girls
  for all offenses rose 35.
• The first adjudication for girls occurs at a
  median age of 14 to 15 years old.
• The biggest spike in arrest rates has been among
  African American girls, who are severely
  overrepresented in the juvenile justice system.

3
Tracking the Problem

• Gender Bias and Social Norms
• Common Paths into Juvenile Court

4
Gender Bias and Social Norms

• Gender bias is a chief reason for girls
  continued and growing presence in the juvenile
  justice system.
• Generally, the societal strictures on girls
  behavior are much more stringent for girls than
  they are for boys.
• So, aggressive or anti-social conduct by girls is
  often considered symptomatic of some deeper
  pathology.

5
Common Paths into Juvenile Court

• Status Offenses
• History of
• Abuse and Neglect
• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Mandatory Arrest Laws for Domestic Disputes

6
Common Paths into Juvenile Court Status Offenses

• Most of the charges against girls are status
  offenses.
• Status offense conduct that is a unacceptable
  because of the actors age.
• Typically include broad language and catchall
  sections that permit broad discretion in
  enforcement.
• Girls are 170 more likely to be arrested for a
  status offense than boys, who commit an equal
  number of status offenses.
• Status offenses are a prelude to juvenile court.
• Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act

7
Common Paths into Juvenile Court Profile of the
Typical System-Involved Girl

• The typical girl in the delinquency system is a
  girl of color who has a history of
• Abuse and Neglect
• Abused and neglected girls are nearly two times
  more likely to be arrested as juveniles.
• Abused and neglected girls are 2.4 times more
  likely to be arrested for violent crimes.
• Physical Abuse and Sexual Abuse
• 81 of girls interviewed for the 1998 National
  Council on Crime and Delinquency study of girls
  in the California juvenile justice system
  reported being victims of one or more forms of
  physical and/or sexual abuse.
• Typical age at which the abuse occurred was
  between 12 and fifteen years old.
• Physical abuse tends to be violent 45 of the
  girls reported having been beaten or burned at
  least once.
• Injuries tended to be inflicted by family
  members, family friends, or boyfriends.

8
Common Paths into Juvenile Court Mandatory
Arrest Laws for Domestic Disputes

• Mandatory arrest laws for domestic disputes mean
  a high percentage of girls are arrested for
  intra-family incidents.
• In some jurisdictions, where a parent reports
  child is assaultive towards parent or another
  sibling, arrest is required.
• Arrest is even required in mutual combat
  situations where the child hits back in self
  defense.

9
Girls Justice Initiative Reform Efforts for
System-Involved Girls

• Girls Courts
• Increasing Awareness in the Field
• Judges Benchbook
• Scholarship concerning day-to-day practice of
  representing, prosecuting, and monitoring
  system-involved girls
• National Girls Health Screen Project
• Hawaii LGBT Youth in Detention

10
Girls' Justice InitiativeA national
collaboration of organizations and individuals
dedicated to promoting justice and
gender-responsive policies for girls involved in
the juvenile justice and related systemsGirls
Justice Initiative Steering Committee

• Leslie Acoca
• In Our Daughters' Hands, Inc.
• Marty Beyer
• Psychologist
• Stephanie Harrison
• Public Defender Service of Washington DC
• Marsha Levick
• Juvenile Law Center
• Brenda Smith
• Washington College of Law at American University

•  Francine Sherman
• Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project
• At Boston College Law School
• Sandra Simkins
• Rutgers-Camden School of Law
• Abbe Smith
• Georgetown University Law Center
• Martha Stone
• Center for Childrens Advocacy
• University of Connecticut School of Law
• Patricia Puritz
• National Juvenile Defender Center
• www.girlsjusticeinitiative.org.

11
Girls Courts

• Hawaii
• When compared to the national average, Hawaiis
  arrest rate for girls is approximately 12 higher
  (41 versus 29 nationally).
• Initiated in September 2004, Girls Court works on
  a strength-based model to develop healthy
  relationships.
• The Hawaii Girls Court has reduced recidivism by
  47.08, which included a 60.00 reduction in the
  number of runaways, and a 62.60 reduction in
  arrests. Notably, the girls, during and after
  their participation in Girls Court, spent 73.24
  fewer days on runaway.
• www.girlscourt.org
• Washington, D.C.
• Court proceedings
• Probation Leaders of Today in Solidarity
  (L.O.T.S.)
• Dr. Beyer has facilitated Youth Family Team
  Meetings with the D.C. Youth Rehabilitation
  Services that give detained girls an chance to
  speak up about their strengths and needs and the
  design of disposition services.
• D.C. continues to have a secure detention unit
  for girls, but no secure commitment facility. So,
  D.C. continues to struggle with the court sending
  PINS girls to secure detention, and these have
  been some of the girls with whom Dr. Beyer has
  done these meetings.

12
Judges Benchbook

• Possible topics to be included
• Girls brain development
• Sample colloquies/best practices for girls of
  different ages in different types of proceedings
• Disproportionate minority contact statistics

13
Scholarship

• Scholarship
• Dr. Marty Beyer, A System of Services for Girls
  in Connecticut, http//ctjja.org/media/media/media
  /media/resources/resource_187.pdf
• Dr. Marty Beyer, Meeting Girls Needs,
  http//www.njdc.info/2006resourceguide/start.swf
• Francine Sherman, Detention Reform and Girls
  Challenges and Solutions, http//www.njdc.info/200
  6resourceguide/start.swf.
• For additional articles, go to the publications
  page at www.njdc.info, click on the 2006 Resource
  Guide, and check the chapter titled Markers of
  Inequality.

14
National Girls Health Screen Project

• Currently, there are no medical standards for
  detained youth in the U.S.
• The National Girls Health Screen Project,
  directed by Leslie Acoca and the Juvenile Law
  Center, is the first research effort to design,
  validate and disseminate a physical health screen
  (and physical exam) in detention centers
  nationally.
• It is focused on girls at this point, but may
  eventually be expanded to include boys as well.
• The method in which the screen is delivered is
  novel as well the Girls Health Screen (GHS) is a
  computerized voice instrument.
• The GHS is currently being validated in 3
  detention centers in San Diego, Santa Cruz, and
  Philadelphia. The validation will be completed
  this year and the instrument available in 2008.

15
LGBT Youth in Detention

• The ACLU of Hawai'i and the ACLU Lesbian Gay
  Bisexual Transgender Rights Project represented
  three young people in a federal civil rights
  lawsuit against Hawai'i Youth Correctional
  Facility (HYCF), the state's juvenile
  correctional facility.
• The plaintiffs said they were abused and harassed
  because of their sexual orientation and gender
  identity while at HYCF.
• The ACLU asked for a preliminary injunction to
  force HYCF to establish policies, procedures, and
  training to prevent further abuse of LGBT wards.
• Dr. Beyer wrote a report as part of the ACLUs
  submissions to the court.
• In 2006, the judge issued a preliminary
  injunction requiring HYCF to stop harassment of
  LGBT wards and HYCF settled the case, agreeing to
  many reforms and a new anti-harassment policy.
• As part of the settlement, the staff received a
  week of training from Dr. Beyer on preventing
  harassment of LGBT youth.

16
Resources

• Kim Taylor-Thompson, Girl Talk Examining Racial
  and Gender Lines in Juvenile Justice, 6 Nev. L.J.
  1137 (2006)
• Dr. Marty Beyer, Developmentally-Sound Practice
  in Family and Juvenile Court, 6 Nev. L.J. 1215
  (2006)
• www.girlsjustice.org
• www.njdc.info

17
Contact Us
Contact Us
Robin Walker, Special Counsel National Juvenile
Defender Center 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite
304 Washington, DC 20036 [phone] xt
114 www.rwalker_at_njdc.info www.njdc.info