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JDAI in the News

Leflore County, Miss., Set to Tackle Detention Reform An article in a local Mississippi paper, the Greenwood Commonwealth, details the efforts of a local judge, the mayor and community organizations to implement the first-year requirements of JDAI. Read article

Editorial: Greenwood, Mississippi The Greenwood Commonwealth’s editorial board argues that the ultimate goal of juvenile court should be steering young people away from the wrong paths. Instilling work habits and responsibility would do more to rehabilitate youth than isolating them in detention facilities. Read editorial

A New Approach to Juvenile Crime in Alabama Linda Tilly, executive director of a local Alabama child advocacy organization, published an opinion piece in the Birmingham News. Read editorial

Review of JDAI’s Twenty-Year Report Juvenile and Family Justice Today reviews “Two Decades of JDAI: From Demonstration Project to National Standard.” The journal, which is published by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, interviews five JDAI sites about their achievements and challenges in implementing detention reform. The article also examines JDAI’s sustainability and provides advice that courts can use to improve their alternatives to detention. Article found on pages 25 and 25

Birmingham Schools Work to Keep Students from Being Arrested for Minor Offenses Birmingham city schools adopted a new protocol to keep students from being referred to court for minor offenses, such as fighting or disrupting class. The agreement is modeled after one first established by JDAI leaders in Clayton County, Ga. Read article

Editorial: Birmingham, Alabama School resource officers – police who patrol the halls of city schools – need to be concerned with serious matters, not with minor discipline violations that should be dealt with by school officials. The new protocol should keep Birmingham schools focused on their true mission: educating kids, not arresting them. Read editorial

Portland Police Recruits Get a Head Start Working with Youth Students talk about their experiences (good and bad) with police officers as a part of Portland’s unique Community Partnership Program, a community-policing orientation that recruits undergo before they head to basic training. Read article

NYT Editorial:  Locking Up Fewer Children The New York Times editorial board applauds JDAI and recommends a better approach for young people as well as overburdened government budgets: Lock up only truly dangerous children and enroll the rest in community-based monitoring programs. Read editorial

National Initiative Keeping Youths Out of Jail, Report Says On the opening day of the JDAI annual conference, the Washington Post examines results at Washington, D.C.’s JDAI site. Read article

JDAI Expert Advises Wyoming Legislature Rand Young a JDAI TA Team Leader discussed JDAI concepts and results with state legislators in Wyoming, which is exploring ways to improve its juvenile justice system. Read article

Editorial Celebrates JDAI Minnesota The Minneapolis Star Tribune editorial board reviews national and local data on jailing youth in detention and recommends community-based alternatives. According to the editorial: "In Minnesota, Ramsey County recently reported that four years ago an average of 89 young people were in lockup daily; today that number is down to 38 -- a drop of 57 percent. Hennepin and Dakota counties recorded 33 percent declines during the same period. Most of the youth are picked up for minor offenses such as truancy, curfew violations, theft and lower-level assaults." Read editorial

Marian Wright Edelman on Juvenile Justice in Huffington Post Under the heading of “Promising Models for Reforming Juvenile Justice Systems,” Ms. Edelman, the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, posts a blog that explores what works in juvenile justice, highlighting JDAI among others. Read more

Juvenile Detentions Down in Cook County In its review of "Two Decades of JDAI: From Demonstration Project to National Standard," the Chicago Law Bulletin reported extensively on the positive outcomes achieved by the JDAI Model Site in Cook County (Chicago), Ill., between 1996 and 2008. Read article

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