One of the best practices for building an effective juvenile justice system is to screen out the lowest-risk offenders and focus the bulk of our money and capacity on higher-risk youth. Because the vast majority of low-risk juvenile offenders will grow out of their bad behavior — with or…...
The Big Picture: 2015 Juvenile Justice Reform
This week, the legislature will consider a package of bills related to juvenile justice, including: LB 265, LB 347, LB 482, and LB 500. Here’s how they would all work together, in conjunction with current law and some other 2015 bills, to further improve Nebraska’s system for handling troubled youth....
Voices for Children Supports LB 212 – End Indiscriminate Youth Shackling in Court
Click Here to Read Voices for Children’s Entire LB 212 Testimony This afternoon, Voices for Children Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Policy Coordinator Juliet Summers testified in support of LB 212, which would end indiscriminate youth shackling in court. All children have the right to be treated fairly before the…...
Voices for Children Supports LB 482
Click Here to Read Voices for Children’s Entire LB 482 Testimony As we wrote this week in the Omaha World-Herald, the vast majority of youth involved with our justice system come before the courts on either misdemeanor offenses or offenses that would not be considered crimes if the offender were…...
Voices for Children Supports LB 25
Click Here to Read Voices for Children’s Entire LB 25 Testimony This afternoon, Voices for Children Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Policy Coordinator Juliet Summers testified in favor of LB 25, which expand juvenile court jurisdiction to 21 in cases where youth in the juvenile justice system would like to…...
Voices for Children Supports LB 598
Click Here to Read Voices for Children’s Entire LB 598 Testimony This afternoon, Voices for Children Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Policy Coordinator Juliet Summers testified in favor of LB 598, which would change requirements regardings treatment and segregation of mentally ill inmates. Voices for Children in Nebraska supports…...
Race Matters in Juvenile Justice
In the wake of a violent fall, with the highly publicized deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice, among others, disproportionate minority contact with the law has become a front page issue. Though we are grateful that Nebraska has not suffered through a tragedy of this nature, information…...
Four Stars for Nebraska’s Policies on Confidentiality
Anyone who has lived with a teenager won’t be surprised to learn that adolescent brain development is linked with risky decision-making, impulsivity, and novelty-seeking behavior. Research has shown that experimentation is a key way the adolescent develops an independent sense of self. [1] Further, brain imaging of teenagers in recent years…...
