Girls in the Juvenile Justice System
The following are excerpts from Women's Policy, Inc.
On October 20, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a hearing, "Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: Strategies to Help Girls Achieve Their Full Potential."
"From 1995 through 2005, delinquency caseloads for girls in juvenile justice courts nationwide increased 15 percent while boys’ caseloads decreased by 12 percent," said Ranking Member Louie Gohmert (R-TX). "Also, from 1995 through 2005, the number of girls’ cases nationwide involving detention increased 49 percent, compared to a seven percent increase for boys. This trend in juvenile delinquency has not gone unnoticed by federal, state, and local policymakers. As the number of female juvenile offenders increased, state juvenile justice officials have noted that juvenile female offenders generally had more serious and wide-ranging service needs than their male counterparts. Many of these needs include treatment for substance abuse and mental health conditions. To address these needs, the Department of Justice tells us that over the last 10 to 15 years, at least 25 states have developed new programming for girls in the juvenile justice system."
Lawanda Ravoira, director of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s Center for Girls and Young Women, provided a profile of the girls in the criminal justice system, saying, "There is an overrepresentation of girls of color in the justice system. Based on the race/ethnic proportion of the general population of youth ages 12-17, overrepresentation is an equity issue affecting both girls and boys…Girls of color are overrepresented among youth in residential placement. Compared to white girls: African American girls are placed over three times as often; Native American girls are placed over four times as often; Hispanic girls are placed at higher rates; [and] Asian Pacific Islanders are underrepresented." She continued, "Disparity exists regardless of offense type. Compared to white girls: African American girls are detained almost six times as often and committed over four times as often for violent crimes; Native Americans are detained five times as often for public order and nine times as often for status offenses, and committed over five times as often for violent and status offenses; Hispanic girls are detained almost twice as often for violent, public order, and technical violations. Girls of color are placed in adult prisons at far higher rates. Compared to white girls: African American girls are sent to adult prison over five times as often and Native American girls three times as often."
"I was born in a women’s prison,” said Nadiyah Shereff, of California. "When I was two days old, I was taken from my mother and placed with my grandmother in San Francisco … I never knew my father and my mother was incarcerated my entire life." She continued, "At 13, I got arrested for the first time and was charged with assault. I was taken to San Francisco’s juvenile hall and began a cycle of going in and out of detention. I was locked up 10 different times within a two-year period. Inside 'juvie,' I met other girls like myself [who] were there for prostitution, assault, theft, and truancy. We were not violent girls. We were girls who were hurting … It was inside the walls of juvenile hall that I was introduced to the Center for Young Women’s Development, also known as CYWD. Members of their organization came monthly to meet with all the young women in lock-up. When it was my turn to meet with them, Marlene Sanchez, who is now the executive director, talked to me in a way that showed me she felt like I had the potential to do something with my life." Ms. Shereff added, "Once out, I applied for the Sister’s Rising nine-month Employment Training Program, and was hired in spite of having just gotten out of lock-up. I spent the next nine months taking part in health circles, one-on-one counseling and building sisterhood with other young women who shared similar experiences … CYWD instilled in me a sense of purpose and hope and it was there that my world changed and I began to find myself. CYWD helped me begin the process of healing from all the things that occurred in my life and after graduating from Sister’s Rising, I felt like a truly transformed person."
Read the entire report from Women's Policy, Inc