Models for Change Newsroom (Connecticut)

2011 Champions for Change

11/27/2012 11:43 AM

Dec 6, 2011 | Models for Change | NEWSROOM

Champions for Change are individuals working with Models for Change in their states who have positively affected the lives of justice-involved youth, their families, and communities in ways that provide pathways away from delinquencyand re-offending, and that increase their potential to lead successful lives and build positive relationships. Each of the 2011 Champions for Change has distinguished themself not only by alongtime commitment to creating change on behalf of youth, but because of…

Catherine Foley Geib: No Drama, Big Results

11/27/2012 11:43 AM

Dec 6, 2011 | NEWSROOM

Catherine Foley Geib, Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Action Network Champion for Change Manager of Clinical & Educational Services Court Support Services Division, Connecticut Judicial Branch Catherine Foley Geib isn’t a publicity hound. She shuns the spotlight, takes very little personal credit for the work of her team and is recognized by colleagues for her welcomed “no drama” approach. What is dramatic is how much she and her teammates have accomplished.…

Collaboration for Reform

11/27/2012 11:43 AM

Dec 1, 2011 | Tracy Velázquez, Justice Policy Institute | NEWSROOM

As the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative began to get underway in four core states, participants in the Initiative and Foundation leadership recognized a significant need: to create concentrated efforts to address some of the shared key challenges to reform. So in 2007, an additional investment of resources was made to create what came to be known as “Action Networks” – multi state groups of juvenile justice and other child serving system leaders that…

Sixth Annual National Working Conference

11/27/2012 11:43 AM

Dec 5, 2011 | NEWSROOM

The 6th Annual Models for Change National Working Conference is in full swing! Visit www.modelsforchange.net/2011Conference for resources, articles, and useful information. If you are active on social media, you can follow the conference on Twitter by keeping up to date with #ModelsForChange or by "Liking" Models for Change on Facebook.

Using Social Media to Advance Reform

11/27/2012 11:43 AM

Apr 20, 2012 | Zerline Hughes, Justice Policy Institute | NEWSROOM

The traditional ways to communicate about our work– word of mouth, newsletter mailings, and ask letters— still do, in fact, get the job done. But with advancements in social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and listservs – we can get our messages out even better and more quickly, to more and new people. The W. Haywood Burns Institute in Northern California is a prime example of the success that can be achieved with a comprehensive social media strategy to stay…

MacArthur Foundation's Models for Change Initiative Announces its Knowledge Brief Series

11/27/2012 11:43 AM

Oct 18, 2012 | Models for Change | NEWSROOM

The Knowledge Brief Series describes new knowledge emerging from the Models for Change initiative, a multi-state juvenile justice initiative. Models for Change is accelerating movement toward a more effective, fair, and developmentally sound juvenile justice system by creating replicable models that protect community safety, use resources wisely, and improve outcomes for youths. The briefs are intended to inform professionals in juvenile justice and related fields, and to contribute to a new…

Campaign for Youth Justice Recognizes National Youth Justice Awareness Month

11/27/2012 11:43 AM

Oct 1, 2012 | Campaign for Youth Justice | NEWSROOM

During the month of October, thousands of people are participating in National Youth Justice Awareness Month (Y-JAM) activities throughout the country. The Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) and partners in over 20 states are hosting events to educate and involve communities on the importance of taking action to end the practice of trying, sentencing, and incarcerating youth in the adult criminal justice system. Local non-profits, youth, and families have organized events ranging from:…

National Youth Justice Awareness Month and Children's Health Month

11/27/2012 11:43 AM

Oct 11, 2012 | NEWSROOM

October is National Youth Justice Awareness Month and Children’s Health Month. In recognition of both, we would like to remind you of two recent knowledge briefs that speak to children’s mental health issues: “Does Mental Health Screening Fulfill Its Promise” and “Mental Health Services in Juvenile Justice: Who pays? What gets paid for? And who gets to decide?

Reform Efforts Improving Mental Health Services and Coordination for Youth

11/27/2012 11:42 AM

Aug 18, 2009 | Joe Cocozza | NEWSROOM

Solomon Moore’s article New York Times article illustrates the problems with using juvenile justice systems to meet the mental health needs of youth. Fortunately, there are growing efforts to better serve youth while ensuring public safety. When mental health services aren’t available, or are poorly coordinated, youth land in the juvenile justice system which exacerbates underlying conditions and contributes to re-offending. Research shows that most of these youth would benefit…

Third Models for Change working conference gathers forces and champions juvenile justice reform

11/27/2012 11:41 AM

Jan 1, 2009 | NEWSROOM

The Third Annual Models for Change Working Conference, in December 2008, provided a unique opportunity for representatives from all areas of the initiative to come together and share knowledge, tools and challenges. Hosted by the Coalition for Juvenile Justice in Alexandria, VA, highlights from the conference included workshops on issues like juvenile indigent defense, diversion strategies and “information sharing.” In addition, attendees participated in peer group sessions, which…

2008 Update: Gathering Force

11/27/2012 11:41 AM

Dec 8, 2008 | National Center for Juvenile Justice | NEWSROOM

Models for Change states and action networks are contributing to the gathering forces of significant juvenile justice reforms based in shared values, growing knowledge of what works, and a deep well of public support for investment for youth. December 2008 National Center for Juvenile Justice 2008 Update: Gathering Force looks at the progress of the four core states (Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana, and Washington), the work of the three action networks, and the topics covered by the…

Thousands to Participate in National Youth Justice Awareness Month Activities throughout the Country

10/11/2012 11:55 AM

Oct 1, 2012 | Campaign for Youth Justice | NEWSROOM

Thousands to Participate in National Youth Justice Awareness Month Activities throughout the Country Twenty-eight Events in 20 States are designed to Raise Awareness around the Issue of Youth Being Tried, Sentenced and Incarcerated in the Adult Criminal Justice System; Release of a New Public Service Announcement Aimed to Empower Families Impacted WASHINGTON – During the month of October, thousands of people are participating in National Youth Justice Awareness Month (Y-JAM)…

Making Major Strides in Juvenile Justice Reform

12/05/2011 02:06 PM

Dec 5, 2011 | Models for Change | NEWSROOM

For Immediate Release December 5, 2011 Contact: Zerline Hughes, zhughes@justicepolicy.org / 202-558-7974 ext. 308 Jason Fenster, jfenster@justicepolicy.org / 202-558-7974 ext 306 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hundreds of experts and leaders in the field of juvenile justice are in Washington, D.C. for the Sixth Annual Models for Change National Working Conference at the Mayflower Hotel December 5 and 6, 2011. The conference brings together judges, prosecutors, defenders, policy makers and…

MH/JJ Action Network State of Texas Awarded One Million Dollar Grant

09/17/2009 01:32 PM

Sep 17, 2009 | The Texas Juvenile Justice TBI Partnership Project | NEWSROOM

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently awarded the state of Texas with a 4-year, $1 million dollar multi-agency grant to help identify youth in the juvenile justice system who may have undiagnosed brain injuries, and arrange for the provision of services for those youth. This grant will fund the initiative The Texas Juvenile Justice TBI Partnership Project, led by the Office of Acquired Brain Injury, along with the assistance of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and…

Untreated Mental Health Needs Fuels School to Jail Pipeline

08/26/2009 11:24 AM

Jan 5, 2009 | Joseph J. Cocozza, Ph.D. | New York Times | NEWSROOM

Letter to the Editor NY Times RE: The Principal's Office First To The Editor: Thank you for drawing attention to the issue of increasing school arrests. Frequently, arrested youth have untreated mental health needs that present in misbehaviors that bring them to the attention of school police and the juvenile justice system. Schools, often lacking the training or resources to appropriately respond, find it easier to have the youth arrested than address the underlying reasons for the…

Young, Mentally Ill and Behind Bars

08/18/2009 02:35 PM

Aug 17, 2009 | Letters to the Editor | New York Times | NEWSROOM

Re “Mentally Ill Offenders Stretch the Limits of Juvenile Justice” (front page, Aug. 10): Solitary confinement is among the harshest legal punishments that American society inflicts on its adult inmates. To inflict it on children is cruel and immoral. I studied suicides in New York State’s prisons over a six-year period and found that half occurred in solitary confinement units even though just 7 percent of the population was housed there. In 1890, the United States Supreme…

Locking Up Fewer Children

08/18/2009 02:28 PM

Aug 14, 2009 | Editorial | New York Times | NEWSROOM

In the 1990s, states and localities began sending more and more children to juvenile lockups, often for months, while they awaited trial for nonviolent offenses or even noncriminal behavior like being “unruly.” This was a disaster. Children who spend time in detention are far more likely to leave school, suffer alcohol or drug abuse problems or commit violent crimes as adults. A far better approach — for these young people as well as overburdened government budgets — is…

New Report Documents Dramatic Reductions in Youth Detention

08/12/2009 11:44 AM

Aug 5, 2009 | Salem-News | NEWSROOM

Reformers Gather in DC to Review Progress. (BALTIMORE, Md.) - A new report released by the Annie C. Casey Foundation shows that two decades of juvenile justice reform have reduced youth detention, improved public safety and saved taxpayers millions of dollars. The report, Two Decades of JDAI: From Demonstration Project to National Standard, documents the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative’s (JDAI) progress both in reforming juvenile detention practices nationwide and also in…

National Initiative Keeping Youths Out of Jail, Report Says

08/12/2009 11:36 AM

Aug 6, 2009 | Henri E. Cauvin | Washington Post | NEWSROOM

A national juvenile justice initiative is helping reduce the number of young offenders being jailed after arrest, according to a new report by the foundation that has backed the effort. But in the District, where the number of juveniles detained had been dropping since the Justice Detention Alternatives Initiative was put in place in 2005, there has been an increase this year, officials said. The Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services and the D.C. Family Court are studying the recent…

Mentally Ill Offenders Strain Juvenile Justice Systems

08/10/2009 12:40 PM

Aug 9, 2009 | Solomon Moore | New York Times | NEWSROOM

FRANKLIN FURNACE, Ohio — The teenager in the padded smock sat in his solitary confinement cell here in this state’s most secure juvenile prison and screamed obscenities. The youth, Donald, a 16-year-old, his eyes glassy from lack of sleep and a daily regimen of mood stabilizers, was serving a minimum of six months for breaking and entering. Although he had received diagnoses for psychiatric illnesses, including bipolar disorder, a judge decided that Donald would get better care in…

12 and in Prison

08/03/2009 12:10 PM

Jul 27, 2009 | Editorial | New York Times | NEWSROOM

The Supreme Court sent an important message when it ruled in Roper v. Simmons in 2005 that children under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed were not eligible for the death penalty. Justice Anthony Kennedy drew on compassion, common sense and the science of the youthful brain when he wrote that it was morally wrong to equate the offenses of emotionally undeveloped adolescents with the offenses of fully formed adults. The states have followed this logic in death penalty cases. But…