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A pilot program in Iowa produces encouraging results for foster kids

Libby Dowsett

October 27, 2021 |

Street Roots |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Iowa

By putting a priority on rescuing children from danger in their homes by reducing the danger or placing the children in relatives' care, Iowa courts have greatly reduced the traumatizing use of emergency foster care placements with strangers. The program, which began with seven judges and has since spread statewide, starts with a simple list of questions that judges or social workers ask to identify specific solutions to problems other than the default mechanism of sending children to live in foster care, which can make their emotional problems worse.

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How one woman shed $350,000 in student loans — without a lawyer

Irina Ivanova

September 28, 2021 |

CBS News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

People who cannot afford their student loan payments are filing discharges themselves and proving to the court why paying back the loans would create undue hardship to have their loans forgiven.

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In Arizona, a radical change in juvenile detention

Ruxandra Guidi

September 20, 2021 |

High Country News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Johns, Arizona

Unrealistic fears of a wave of youth violence left rural Apache County, Colorado, with an unused, costly youth detention facility. So the local courts decided to refashion the empty jail into the Loft Legacy Teen Center, an after-school hangout offering a "care-first" approach to teen problems. Mentors and a truancy prevention program help youth avoid trouble and get educations. Youth arrests have dropped, though that might also be credited to the state's risk-assessment tool that is meant to guard against overuse of punishment.

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He Beat Her Repeatedly. Family Court Tried to Give Him Joint Custody of Their Children.

Megan O'Matz

September 16, 2021 |

ProPublica |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a leader in the movement to treat fathers as equal caregivers and to prioritize shared custody in divorces. But this fathers' rights reform, combined with outmoded ideas about women who allege domestic violence, often forces domestic violence victims to maintain frequent communication with their abusers and to turn over their children to violent former spouses for visits. Although the shared-custody law does exempt cases of serious domestic violence, advocates say the law allows large exceptions, makes proving allegations too hard, and is overseen by courts dismissive of women's allegations.

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Where Juvenile Detention Looks More Like Teens Hanging Out

Ruxandra Guidi

September 13, 2021 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, St. Johns, Arizona

Apache County, Arizona, once had a costly, under-used juvenile detention center and a traditional philosophy that stern punishment would steer young people away from misbehavior. Now the abandoned detention center is The Loft Legacy Teen Center, an after-school hangout with mentors, connections to social services, and a place where youth can go to socialize – a rare commodity in this rural community. It's run and staffed by the court system and its probation department. But its methods are love and support, not threats of arrest and incarceration. Juvenile arrests are now way down.

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Eagle County problem-solving courts offer new hope to repeat offenders battling substance abuse

Kelli Duncan

September 09, 2021 |

Vail Daily |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eagle, Colorado

Eagle County's two problem-solving courts put treatment ahead of punishment when addressing crimes committed by people with substance abuse problems. Originally set up as one court, they now function separately to address drunken driving and drugs and serve people "teetering on the edge of serious prison time" for repeat offenses. More than 90 percent of participants in 2020 maintained sobriety and more than 80 percent avoided new legal troubles. While the threat of punishment is used to win compliance with rules, prosecutors say they're more interested in permanently curing the underlying disease.

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Since when is being a teenager a crime?

Eda Uzunlar

August 07, 2021 |

Reveal |

Illustrations |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Wyoming

Neighboring states of Wyoming and South Dakota take starkly different approaches toward youth who get in trouble. Side-by-side comic panels follow two real cases through each system. A South Dakota teen gets help that steers her off a destructive path. A Wyoming teen gets punished, and ends up in a downward spiral of more trouble and more punishment. Both states once had relatively high youth incarceration rates. Now only one of them, Wyoming, does: the second-worst in the U.S., and three times the national average.

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Federal monitors cost millions, with disputed results. Seattle's police watchdog was a case in point.

David Nakamura

August 02, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Federal consent decrees install court-appointed monitors to oversee reforms agreed to by a police department and the U.S. Justice Department after federal officials have found a department violates people's civil rights. In Seattle, a long-running monitor program oversaw great improvement in the police department's use of force. But the project turned so acrimonious that the monitor called the department a failure and the department said the monitor lacked accountability and a sensible yardstick to measure success. The Biden administration has revived the program nationwide but is studying ways to fix it.

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Austin youth re-entry program has 15% recidivism rate, compared to 75% nationwide

Clare O'Connor

July 26, 2021 |

KXAN-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Austin, Texas

Jail to Jobs pays youth while they get trained for jobs in construction, manufacturing, landscaping, and cooking. The youth come from youth detention, the streets, probation, and foster care and their trainers are formerly incarcerated. Jail to Jobs, with four locations in Austin, has helped more than 600 young people find employment despite their pasts. Only 15% of its graduates have been jailed afterward, a lower-than-average recidivism rate.

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A 'Zoom boom' boosted civic engagement across Kansas. But will it continue?

Stan Finger

July 20, 2021 |

The Kansas Leadership Center Journal (KLC Journal) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas

When courthouses and in-person government meetings shut down because of COVID-19, officials satisfied Kansas’ open meeting mandate by using pandemic relief aid to equip buildings with the technology needed to live stream proceedings and allow constituents to comment remotely. Crowds watching on platforms like Facebook Live were substantially higher than in-person attendance had ever been. Several cities linked agendas online and found creative ways to include public comments in meetings. Advocates are looking to maintain the public’s increased civic engagement as courts and government offices are reopening.

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