JUVENILE RIGHTS PRACTICE A Better Way Close to Home Juvenile Justice Reform Tamara Steckler THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY © The Legal Aid Society 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted without the prior written permission of The Legal Aid Society.

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) Family Court :  Civil Court  Children under 16 not convicted, but adjudicated  Goal was meant to be rehabilitation, not punishment  Risk vs. Need confusion  Disproportionality is rampant Prison is not a service provider Close to Home more closely represents the intention of the Family Court Act

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) DOJ Steps In:  Federal lawsuit involving only 4 prisons  State officials negotiated with the Department of Justice over a plan to fix the system’s worst problems: The overuse of physical force, Inadequate psychological and drug abuse counseling Substandard education

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) Lawsuit filed by Legal Aid Society  December 2009  Follows two scathing reports from DOJ and a state task force that recommended overhaul  Includes all limited secure settings and two intake facilities  Sought an injunction to limit the use of force and require the state to provide more treatment for mental health problems.  Difficulty accessing clients before, during and after lawsuit

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) Difficulty Accessing and Visiting Clients  Distance is prohibitive; in a court-based practice with limited resources traveling hundreds of miles is both cost and time prohibitive  No impromptu visits or visits with short notice, which is the only say to accurately assess facility and programming  Some difficulty seeing clients without staff present, a constant struggle to arrange visits and see clients away from staff eyes and ears; more reliance on phone calls which were very difficult for same reasons  Children being “spoken” to before visits  Can’t do visits to same child on consecutive days when situation calls for it.

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) Top 8 Reasons Children Need to be Close to Their Counsel 1.It takes time to maintain a trusting relationship with a child, especially one that has been imprisoned. Regular contact is critical to maintaining the attorney-client- relationship. 2.It often takes more than one meeting with a child to ascertain their health and welfare, children do not disclose as readily and often require several conversations to obtain all information needed. 3.Children hundreds of miles away do not feel as though their counsel are able to protect them, very fearful of retaliation by staff.

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) Top 8 Reasons Children Need to be Close to Their Counsel cont. 4. Children often do not share physical or psychological assaults with attorneys via phone, it is critical to actually see the children ascertain their physical condition and demeanor. 5. Children are essential to an attorney’s advocacy, their “testimony” via affidavits, etc. are the crux of our work, it is nearly impossible to strategize with a child client hundreds of miles away via phone. 6. Relating to any child requires face to face contact, children do not respond as effectively in phone conversations, maintaining focus is difficult, it is critical to be able to see the child to assess understanding.

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) Top 8 Reasons Children Need to be Close to Their Counsel cont. 7. Locating facilities where attorneys and families can visit will make it more difficult to hide abuse. 8. Post-sentencing advocacy is as critical as advocacy at trial and sentencing, especially for children, this cannot be accomplished when children are hundreds of miles away.

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) It’s unequivocal….  Even children who are found guilty of juvenile delinquency deserve to be safe.  Significant imbalance of power creates high risk of danger for children.  Adults, including attorneys, from outside the facilities must be welcomes in and be frequent visitors to ensure safety, need all eyes on.

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) Close to Home Juvenile Justice Reform If children are taken from their families, we are all responsible for ensuring their safety and well-being. There is no excuse for allowing abuse.

Close To Home Juvenile Justice Reform (© The Legal Aid Society 2013) Close to Home Juvenile Justice Reform Close to Home is focused on rehabilitation, safety and return to family. These are not throw away children, they deserve our very best thinking and effort. CTH is that thinking and effort.