Three States Lead the Way for Juvenile Justice Reforms | Pew
-
0:08 - 0:10- I got my first arrest
when I was 11 years old. -
0:10 - 0:12You know, you don't go from
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0:12 - 0:13banging on the streets of Atlanta, Georgia
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0:13 - 0:15with a life expectancy of 15 years
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0:15 - 0:18to Commissioner of Juvenile
Justice accidentally. -
0:18 - 0:20You go there because
somebody had the courage -
0:20 - 0:22to believe more and give you
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0:22 - 0:24the opportunity to become more.
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0:24 - 0:25And that's what we have to do.
-
0:25 - 0:26That's our real work.
-
0:28 - 0:31- Senate Bill 200 is adopted.
-
0:32 - 0:34- Since the late 1990's the rate at which
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0:34 - 0:35juveniles are arrested for violent crime
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0:35 - 0:37has been cut in half.
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0:37 - 0:38And so has the rate at which they're held
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0:38 - 0:40in juvenile correctional facilities.
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0:40 - 0:42State policy leaders are now poised
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0:42 - 0:44to accelerate and lock in these trends
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0:44 - 0:47toward more public safety
at less tax payer expense. -
0:47 - 0:49- The time is right for
juvenile justice reform. -
0:49 - 0:51- We're living in a time now where
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0:51 - 0:54the opportunity has never been greater.
-
0:54 - 0:56- We need to recognize that we can do
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0:56 - 0:58a better job with our kids.
-
0:58 - 1:00- States from Georgia
to Kentucky to Hawaii -
1:00 - 1:02are taking a fresh look
at juvenile justice -
1:02 - 1:04because it was clear the
status quo was not working. -
1:06 - 1:07- Kentucky was spending it's money
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1:07 - 1:08it all the wrong ways.
-
1:08 - 1:10- We weren't getting a
good return on investment. -
1:10 - 1:11We weren't getting results.
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1:11 - 1:13We weren't getting the best outcomes
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1:13 - 1:15for our most troubled children.
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1:15 - 1:17When I started to look at the type of kids
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1:17 - 1:18that we had at the correctional facility
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1:18 - 1:20I realized that the overwhelming majority
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1:20 - 1:22of them were not a risk to public safety.
-
1:23 - 1:28- Like many judges, we were
committing kids by default. -
1:28 - 1:30- We were putting almost as many kids in
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1:30 - 1:32some type of detention facility
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1:32 - 1:37for missing school as we
were for committing a crime. -
1:38 - 1:40- We are forced, because
we don't have those -
1:40 - 1:43local community interventions,
to commit them to the state. -
1:43 - 1:45- We were spending a lot
of money on detention, -
1:45 - 1:47particularly for low level offenders,
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1:47 - 1:49when we see that that's not a productive
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1:49 - 1:53or effective way to invest
in the lives of those kids. -
1:55 - 1:57- Research shows that juvenile
correctional facilities -
1:57 - 1:59generally fail to produce better outcomes
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1:59 - 2:01than alternative
sanctions, cost much more, -
2:01 - 2:04and can actually increase
re-offending for certain youth. -
2:04 - 2:06- Putting kids in placement
in secure facilities, -
2:06 - 2:10lock up, does not actually deter crime.
-
2:10 - 2:13- Longer stays don't seem
to show any positive effects -
2:13 - 2:15in terms of reducing rate of re-arrest.
-
2:15 - 2:20At some point, we should
have a way of thinking about -
2:20 - 2:22why we're keeping an
adolescent in an institution -
2:22 - 2:24for a longer time period.
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2:24 - 2:25And if they are reasons to do that
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2:25 - 2:27then let's be explicit about that,
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2:27 - 2:29and figure out what
we're getting out of it. -
2:30 - 2:32- To get better results,
states are reducing -
2:32 - 2:34the number of youths sent
to correctional facilities -
2:34 - 2:36and reinvesting a portion of the savings
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2:36 - 2:38into programs and policies
that reduce recidivism. -
2:38 - 2:41- One of the ways that states
can really respond effectively -
2:41 - 2:44is to be able to sort
through kids in terms of -
2:44 - 2:46low risk, medium risk, high risk kids,
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2:46 - 2:49and to focus those resources effectively
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2:49 - 2:50on the adolescents who
are going to present -
2:50 - 2:53the highest risk of
public safety problems. -
2:53 - 2:56- If we require judges
to apply risk assessment -
2:56 - 2:58instruments before they can commit kids
-
2:58 - 3:00to ensure that the lower risk kids
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3:00 - 3:01are not committed to the state.
-
3:03 - 3:05- We're gonna see a dramatic shift
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3:05 - 3:07in the way we serve young people.
-
3:07 - 3:10- These reforms, first of
all, are going to keep kids -
3:10 - 3:14who otherwise would have
been sent to a youth prison -
3:14 - 3:16to remain in the community
and receive the type -
3:16 - 3:19of interventions that need
to happen in their home. -
3:19 - 3:23- There will be a
significantly reduced number -
3:23 - 3:25of actual court cases filed.
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3:25 - 3:27They will be addressed appropriately
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3:27 - 3:30with social services on the front end.
-
3:30 - 3:32- To better protect public safety,
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3:32 - 3:34you need to spend those
dollars at the front end -
3:34 - 3:37of the system versus the
back end of the system. -
3:37 - 3:40- Everything in juvenile
justice is about intervention. -
3:40 - 3:44Prevent a child learning
further criminal behaviors -
3:44 - 3:47and you prevent a future adult criminal.
-
3:48 - 3:50- These reforms are not only
making communities safer, -
3:50 - 3:52but they're saving states
money because placing youth -
3:52 - 3:54in residential facilities is the most
-
3:54 - 3:56expensive correctional option.
-
3:56 - 3:59- When you can divert,
you can avoid sending -
3:59 - 4:01a low level child to
detention for $100,000 a year, -
4:01 - 4:03those savings mount up quickly.
-
4:03 - 4:05- In the state of Hawaii
it's costing approximately -
4:05 - 4:09$199,000 a year to incarcerate a youth.
-
4:14 - 4:17- The bottom line is that
we have passed a bill -
4:17 - 4:18that gets better outcomes for children
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4:18 - 4:21and does so at a lower
cost for the tax payer. -
4:21 - 4:23- As a result of these reforms,
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4:23 - 4:25we have realized cost savings.
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4:25 - 4:28In Georgia for example,
we have already shut down -
4:28 - 4:31two facilities because we are no longer
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4:31 - 4:33committing low risk offenders.
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4:33 - 4:35- States are getting to good public policy
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4:35 - 4:36by looking at the data.
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4:36 - 4:38Across all branches of government,
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4:38 - 4:40and the partisan divide, state
leaders are coming together -
4:40 - 4:43to assess their systems
and find solutions. -
4:43 - 4:46- The collaboration on this bill is key.
-
4:46 - 4:48We turned no one away.
-
4:48 - 4:51- The task force was vital to the process
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4:51 - 4:53because it gave us that credibility
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4:53 - 4:56and that unified voice to speak with
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4:56 - 4:59when rolling out a package
of legislative reforms. -
4:59 - 5:00- These reforms are grounded in research
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5:00 - 5:02and the public supports them.
-
5:02 - 5:05- The public has always been more positive
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5:05 - 5:08in its orientation toward
youthful offenders. -
5:08 - 5:11- Eighty-five percent of voters
say they are not concerned -
5:11 - 5:12whether juvenile offenders are sent to
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5:12 - 5:14correctional facilities or
how long they stay there. -
5:14 - 5:16What matters is reducing the likelihood
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5:16 - 5:17of future crime.
-
5:17 - 5:19- I really think in some
way we're kinda coming -
5:19 - 5:22back around to what the
public expected all the time -
5:22 - 5:24from the juvenile justice system.
-
5:24 - 5:26- State leaders have successfully adopted
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5:26 - 5:27reforms that will change the direction
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5:27 - 5:31of juvenile justice policy
and the lives of young people. -
5:31 - 5:32- For every child that we divert from the
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5:32 - 5:35criminal justice system
and decrease the chances -
5:35 - 5:37they'll ever enter it, that's a policy win
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5:37 - 5:38in so many ways.
-
5:38 - 5:42- We go into public
service to do those things. -
5:42 - 5:43That's why we're there.
-
5:43 - 5:45- If we continue on this trajectory,
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5:45 - 5:47the only children that
come to the deep end -
5:47 - 5:48of our system will be the ones that
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5:48 - 5:50absolutely need it and every other child
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5:50 - 5:52in the commonwealth, and
hopefully in the nation, -
5:52 - 5:55will move forward to
their greatest successes.
- Title:
- Three States Lead the Way for Juvenile Justice Reforms | Pew
- Description:
-
State leaders from Georgia, Hawaii, and Kentucky enacted reforms that will change the lives of young people. http://www.pewtrusts.org/publicsafety.
Listen to state leaders discuss the shifting landscape of juvenile justice and how they enacted data-driven and fiscally sound policies that protect public safety, improve outcomes for youths, and contain correctional costs.
Learn more at http://www.pewtrusts.org/publicsafety.
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 06:06
schoolcraftDL edited English subtitles for Three States Lead the Way for Juvenile Justice Reforms | Pew |