NO PLACE FOR KIDS Prepared by Nate Balis, Senior Associate for National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) Webinar April 30, 2013 Juvenile Incarceration Trends

*Source: Texas Juvenile Justice Department TEXAS YOUTH COMMISSION COMMITMENTS & JUVENILE ARRESTS * Texas serves as one of the more striking examples of how scandal and policy change can impact incarceration  By 2006, Texas Youth Commission commitments were at a seven-year high point, even as arrests had fallen slightly  In 2007, Senate Bill 103 was signed into law which, among other things, barred commitment of misdemeanors  Between 2006 and 2010, commitments declined by 62%, compared with a 17% drop in arrests Senate Bill 103 bans commitment for misdemeanor offenses

Local practice reforms and state policy reforms have had large impacts on commitment rates in California Incarceration rates across all of the highest committing counties dropped following major juvenile justice legislation in 1996 (counties paying share of cost) and 2007 (restricting who could be committed) YOUTH COMMITMENT RATES PER 1,000 FELONY ARRESTS, SAN FRANCISCO VS. SIX OTHER HIGHEST COMMITTING COUNTIES IN 1980 While commitment rates remained virtually unchanged in California’s other high committing counties, San Francisco experienced a very large decline following the implementation of a series dispositional case planning reforms in the 1980s

*Admissions based on Alabama Department of Youth Services data.. ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH SERVICES ADMISSIONS * In Alabama, juvenile justice reform helped initiate and later sustain declines in commitments JDAI & Casey consulting launch at invitation of Governor & Chief Justice AL Juv. Justice Act passes unanimously DYS begins competitive grant program for local non-residential services  In spite of falling crime since the mid-1990s, commitments were on the rise in the mid-2000s  Re-election of Gov. Bob Riley and election of former family court judge Sue Bell Cobb as Chief Justice sparked bi-partisan support for JJ reform  Push to reduce commitments spearheaded locally by JDAI sites, but spread quickly to other localities  Data-driven DYS grants program incentivized reductions in commitments  Since 2006, DYS admissions have declined by 56%

Nate Balis Senior Associate Juvenile Justice Strategy Group Center for Systems Innovation Contact Information