This report was written by the Queens Neighborhood Youth Justice Council composed of seven young people ages 14 to 19 who met twice a week for eight weeks at the Queens Youth Justice Center. The Council engages adolescents in Queens in public policy issues that affect young people. In the summer of 2015, the Council focused on community-level interactions between LGBTQ youth and police.
New York City Family Court Administrative Judge Jeanette Ruiz responds to the question: In what ways can we improve outcomes for youth who enter the juvenile justice system?
This monograph starts with a question: What can we do differently to enhance public safety, reduce the use of incarceration, and improve public perceptions of justice in a Brooklyn neighborhood that experiences both high crime and high rates of incarceration?
The Center for Court Innovation and the United States Department of Justice COPS Office developed the Police-Youth Dialogues Toolkit as a resource for communities hoping to foster conversations between young people and the police, enabling them to discuss their interactions and find common ground. Drawing from projects across the country, the toolkit consolidates expertise, providing strategies and promising practices for police-youth dialogues.
This fact sheet briefly describes Midtown Community Court's tailored use of social services along with specialized youth programming and community service in lieu of incarceration and fines. Through this problem-solving justice approach, the court seeks to reduce crime and incarceration and improve public trust in justice.
The Center for Court Innovation works to improve outcomes for young people involved—or at risk of involvement—in the justice system. This fact sheet describes the Center’s youth justice programs, which seek to promote accountability, engage young people in skill-building, and spark civic engagement.
This research report examines the first year of a new pilot program at nine sites in New York State. The impact analysis found that the program did not undermine public safety and was most effective for high-risk youth.
This report summarizes lessons learned from the Center for Court Innovation's efforts to cultivate better communication and understanding between police, communities, and youth. (June 2015)
This report, researched and presented by the 2014-15 Youth Justice Board, focuses on how teenagers with prior arrests can benefit from meaningful interventions and avoid further justice system involvement. It also provides recommendations to strengthen police-youth relationships in New York City.
In order to address the high prevalence of children’s exposure to violence, in 2010, eight sites around the country were selected by the U.S. Department of Justice for the Defending Childhood Demonstration Program. This national initiative aims: 1) to prevent children’s exposure to violence; 2) to mitigate the negative impact of such exposure when it does occur; and 3) to develop knowledge and spread awareness about children’s exposure to violence, both within and beyond the chosen pilot sites. The eight demonstration sites are: