National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has recognized family court judge David King with its Justice Innovation Award.

New York is poised to prohibit the use of handcuffs, shackles, straitjackets and other hardware restraints on those 21 and younger appearing in family court.

The National Council on Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Reno, Nevada-based national membership group for dependency court professionals, has made the March issue of Juvenile and Family Court Journal, its peer-reviewed publication, free of charge for anyone who wants to access it online.

As a teenager in foster care, Zack Zibrosky was detained eight times, five for running away from the same group home where some of the other kids had a history of aggressive behavior.

A new resource from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) aims to help judges uphold the rights of Native American children in juvenile court. The “Indian Child Welfare Act Judicial Benchbook” is designed to assist judges implement the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a series of guidelines on the cases of child abuse and neglect and adoption cases involving Native American children.

According to Anthony Capizzi, his desire to become a judge originated from the enjoyment he experienced while working with families as a juvenile and family law attorney. He wanted to make a greater impact on the youth he represented during his years in private practice.

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) came about because the federal government and states had a long history of treating Native American* parents as unfit just by their being Indian. As recently as the 1970s, mothers knew to hide their children when strange white sedans appeared on the reservation because social workers would scoop up children and quickly arrange for them to be adopted by white families, often in the Midwest or further east.

Victims of child sex trafficking are one of the most marginalized populations in the justice system. Every year, hundreds of child sexual assault victims run the risk of being arrested, locked up, and prosecuted because they are commercially sexually exploited, and forced into prostitution.

The advocates are Charlie Brown. Congress is Lucy. And the football is the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). Once again, momentum was established on a bill to update the bill that sets minimum federal standards for operation of state and local juvenile justice systems, particularly in regard to which youth are confined and where they are confined.