Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative

“We’re going to end solitary confinement of juveniles, period, end of story,” said Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, with a wry laugh. He was discussing with Youth Services Insider the new Stop Solitary for Kids campaign, led by JPI and three other groups: Center for Children’s Law and Policy (CCLP); Georgetown University’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR); and the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators (CJCA).

A new precedent was set recently when Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy announced a plan to establish 20 as the age of jurisdiction for the state’s juvenile justice system. This would make Connecticut the first state to presumptively include anyone over 18 in the juvenile justice system.

It was just last November when the Obama Administration released a report highlighting the need for more investment in support for girls and women of color. At the same time, the White House was responding to criticism that there was no corresponding effort for women to “My Brother’s Keeper,” the Obama initiative for boys and men of color.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has real-life origins that explain its deeply child-focused approach. Jim Casey, who made his fortune starting UPS, named the foundation for his mother, Annie E. Casey, a single parent who struggled to raise him and his three siblings.

JDAI Inter-Site Conference, Houston Mall Edition, is finito. I managed about eight hours of hallway chatter, six workshops, got my ear pierced and bought a massage chair at Brookstone (two of those things are not true).