Putting children’s needs first means using the Connecticut Juvenile Training School and the Walter G. Cady School as part of the toolbox. It appears that some, including those in positions of advocacy and legislation, would carelessly ignore the programs that are in place while trying to create a new and unfunded system.
juvenile justice
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Individualized treatment for Connecticut children is the goal
For too long the debate over the care of children and young adults in Connecticut with behavioral health needs, developmental disabilities or those in the juvenile justice system has been centered on the wrong issue. Important time, money, and other resources have been spent debating the future of specific programs, rather than focusing on how best to provide care and treatment that will meet individual needs.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Malloy dubs bail, sentencing reforms as ‘Second Chance 2.0’
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy came to the Citadel of Love, a black church in the North End of Hartford, on Thursday to roll out “Second Chance 2.0,” a second round of proposals to negate the permanence of criminal mistakes, especially those committed by the young. He will ask the legislature next week to curtail bail for minor crimes, treat many defendants younger than 21 as juveniles and broaden the reach of a record-expunging youthful offender law.
Posted inNews
At Harvard, hints of what Malloy intends on justice reform
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is to present details on his plans for criminal justice reform Thursday in Hartford, but he shared his thoughts on bail reform and treating criminal defendants as juveniles until they turn 21 at Harvard. A preview on what’s to come this week.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Close juvenile jails? Legislators leave it up to the governor
Democratic legislators Tuesday retreated from a plan to move legislatively toward closing the controversial state-run jail for young offenders and decided to leave that decision up to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Youth incarceration down; obstacles remain for some discharges
Changes in sentencing policies for young offenders mean fewer inmates than ever are living at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, though several youths on any given day remain locked up because there is nowhere else for them to go.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Secret trials for CT 20-somethings would be unconstitutional
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the General Assembly are to be commended for their 2015 “Second Chance Society” legislation, reversing racist laws that filled our jails with nonviolent drug users, most of them African-American and Latino. But it is ill-advised to pursue announced policies emanating from that corrective action; especially plans for secret trials of defendants in their early 20s.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
CJTS teacher: Juvenile offenders’ ‘best chance is with us’
In light of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposal to “Raise the Age” of juveniles to 20, it is time to recognize once and for all that Connecticut’s juvenile delinquent offenders should be sent to the Connecticut Juvenile Training School and not to the state’s youth prison, Manson Youth Institute. Contrary to the Office of the Child Advocate’s misleading and politically-charged claim that we are abusing our residents, the truth of the matter is that the residents of CJTS receive a comprehensive, intensive, and high-quality array of services from dedicated and passionate professionals.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Consider an independent juvenile justice authority for Connecticut
Before “raising the age” again, the State of Connecticut and its key justice agencies — DCF, DOC and the Judicial Branch including the Court Support Services Division — need to participate in an honest independent look at all of our current organizational structures for adjudicated youth. The purpose of this external review would be to examine creation of an independent Juvenile Justice Authority that is science-informed, takes a two-generation approach and is anchored in “evidence-based” policy, practice and programs. Clearly what we have now is not working well. Besides that, it is really expensive.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Malloy: Raise the age for juvenile justice system to 20
In a major policy speech Friday at a criminal-justice symposium, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed overhauling Connecticut’s bail system and making the state the first in the U.S. to treat defendants as juveniles up to age 20. Both proposals could significantly lower incarceration rates.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The real reason to close the Connecticut Juvenile Training School
The Connecticut Juvenile Training School and the Pueblo Unit should close. Institutions of this sort, by their very nature, inevitably depersonalize children, engender abuse and fail to address public safety. I know because I used to run one.
Posted inEducation, Justice
Youth service officers: We are not abusing kids in jail
Staff from CJTS speak out against reports on conditions inside the state-run jails A state investigation that uncovered improper use of restraint and seclusion at Connecticut’s juvenile correction facilities left out one important element, front line staff members say: their voices. “We cannot and will not be portrayed as the enemy or the abuser of […]
Posted inEducation, Justice
The state of Connecticut juvenile incarceration in 17 charts
Each year about 3,000 children enter Connecticut’s juvenile justice system after being convicted of breaking the law. Here, in graphical form, is a historical overview of what happens to youth after they are found guilty, including details on the jails where about 200 youths each year are sent to live.
Posted inEducation, Health
Report: CT has made progress on child trauma, but gaps persist
Connecticut has made dramatic advances in providing help for children exposed to trauma, in some cases, emerging as a national leader in addressing a problem that research has linked to significant mental and physical health consequences. But more work is needed, according to a report released Tuesday.
Posted inEducation
Legislators press DCF: Do your juvenile jails work?
Fourteen months have passed since Jennie was violently taken down from behind as she walked from one end of the state-run jail for girls to the other. On Thursday, concerned lawmakers on the legislative panel that oversees juvenile justice wanted to know: Where is Jennie now, and how is she doing? And do the jails, which house juveniles convicted of a crime, improve their behavior after they leave?