A Prayer for Courageous Leadership in Finding Solutions to Juvenile Crime

Praying for Peace and Justice on June 1, 2024

Given my background, my prayer is that courageous leaders will come forward and seek out the evidence-based approaches, developing ways to comprehensively address the problem of juvenile crime. I pray that jurisdictions will educate the public about successful programs and enlist their help in developing effective policies.

Background

Some of you know, but I think most do not, I worked on juvenile justice issues at the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), US Department of Justice for 25 years before retiring in January 2002.  I am concerned that many states and localities are repeating the mistakes of the past and not addressing the causes of juvenile crime.

In the mid to late 80s juvenile crime increased, causing politicians to fall all over themselves to see who could be the toughest on crime in general and specifically on juvenile crime.  While most of the changes in policy related to adults, some focused on juvenile offenders e.g. lowering the age at which a juvenile can be tried as an adult, increasing periods of detention. Crime generally and juvenile crime have increased again over the past two or three years. Crime levels are a major issue for our electorate.

Law enforcement’s impact on juvenile crime is only part of the answer.  So, increasing the numbers of police may result in some reduction in crime, but in the long-term only a comprehensive approach will succeed in reducing juvenile crime.  By comprehensive approach, I mean community-based prevention efforts, work with parents, schools, alternatives to detention, alternative intervention programs such as structured aftercare for youth coming out of juvenile institutions. When I was at OJJDP we funded and evaluated all these approaches.  Some succeeded others did not; however, we learned a lot from each effort. OJJDP along with others in the field identified many evidenced based approaches. If jurisdictions adopt these approaches, it will reduce victimization and save the lives of many young people. It always broke my heart, as a defense counsel with the DC Public Defenders’ Office, to encounter mostly young men who seemed smart and capable being lost to the streets.  What a waste of human potential. 

 I am sorry to say that much of what we accomplished has gone by the wayside.  There are many reasons for this which I will not go into today. Suffice it to say, we need leaders, who can have an impact on juvenile crime, to be educated to approach the problem of juvenile crime comprehensively. I know this is no easy task, particularly in an election year.