Juvenile Court Adjudication Case Study
In 1921 the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court came into existence through the Louisiana Constitution. When the Juvenile Court was first established it started with one Judge but with an increase in juvenile crimes, the city chose to increase the number of judges in the courts. As of today there are a total of five judges that handle juvenile cases. Four of the judges primarily deal with adjudication. Adjudication is defined by the act of the court making an order or judgment. The fifth judge deals with family cases as it relates to child abuse and adoption and cases related to Department of Children Family Services (DCFS).
According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 2014, law enforcement agencies in the United States made an estimated one million arrest of persons under the age of 18, 50% less than the number of arrest of 2005. In 2014, there were 53,500 arrest made under violent crimes which include murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and assault. The property crime index accounted for 234,200 arrests for juveniles with larceny-theft accounting for 178,000 under that index. The statistics may show crime is decreasing however, in some cities juveniles crimes are still high level and in most …show more content…
cases depending on the punishment the juvenile may receive he/ she may be at a greater chance to re-offend.
Juveniles that receive in home probation, recidivated 2.12 times higher than a juvenile that’s detained in an out of home placement facility. Based on data reported for the city New Orleans; according to Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights (LACCR) in 2012, there were close to 1,200 juveniles arrested and in 2013 there were 1,114 juveniles arrested. With large numbers of juvenile being arrested there are likely to have some to recidivate. According to Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ) in the year 2012-2013 21.70% of juveniles arrested recidivated within a year and 38.10% recidivate in two years. The data given is based on juveniles that are housed in a secured facility. Also reported by OJJ 96% percent of juveniles arrested are African American and has increased to 99% in the year of 2015
When juveniles are arrested in Orleans Parish they are taken into custody at the Youth Study Center until they are released. When juveniles arrive at the youth study center, the juveniles go through a process to obtain a RAI score. The RAI score helps determine what you can be eligible for when the judge make a decision. If a juvenile is a first time offender you can easily participate in an alternative dentition programs. One being the Diversion Program, Diversion is a psychoeducational group for individuals referred through the court system for first-time minor offense. The program discusses decision making skills, anger management, communication skills and other components that will trigger criminal behaviors. There is also ODAP (Orleans Detention Alternative Program) which is another detention alternative that provides youth advocate for the juveniles as well as the HEAT program which is a substance abuse program for juveniles.
There are several helpful programs for juveniles when they are first arrested and awaiting their judgement. However, the issue at hand is there are not enough programs that help juveniles deal with post adjudication. If there was a post adjudication program it would be beneficial to the juveniles and their families and it will also help decrease the recidivism rate.
.
The need for a post adjudication program is at a high level.
It will allow juveniles to transition back into society without having the urge to be involved in delinquent behaviors. It will help them identify problem and how to handle them. It will focus on peer pressure which is a primary reason why most juveniles get arrested. Though the program will be for post adjudication it will also include parenting skills for those parents who have to continue to raise a child post adjudication. Being incarcerated can be a traumatizing event for anyone; which is why Mental Health services will be included in the post adjudication program. The program will not only help recidivism rates go down but will also help juvenile offender become law abiding
citizens.
According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 2014, law enforcement agencies in the United States made an estimated one million arrest of persons under the age of 18, 50% less than the number of arrest of 2005. In 2014, there were 53,500 arrest made under violent crimes which include murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and assault. The property crime index accounted for 234,200 arrests for juveniles with larceny-theft accounting for 178,000 under that index. The statistics may show crime is decreasing however, in some cities juveniles crimes are still high level and in most …show more content…
cases depending on the punishment the juvenile may receive he/ she may be at a greater chance to re-offend.
Juveniles that receive in home probation, recidivated 2.12 times higher than a juvenile that’s detained in an out of home placement facility. Based on data reported for the city New Orleans; according to Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights (LACCR) in 2012, there were close to 1,200 juveniles arrested and in 2013 there were 1,114 juveniles arrested. With large numbers of juvenile being arrested there are likely to have some to recidivate. According to Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ) in the year 2012-2013 21.70% of juveniles arrested recidivated within a year and 38.10% recidivate in two years. The data given is based on juveniles that are housed in a secured facility. Also reported by OJJ 96% percent of juveniles arrested are African American and has increased to 99% in the year of 2015
When juveniles are arrested in Orleans Parish they are taken into custody at the Youth Study Center until they are released. When juveniles arrive at the youth study center, the juveniles go through a process to obtain a RAI score. The RAI score helps determine what you can be eligible for when the judge make a decision. If a juvenile is a first time offender you can easily participate in an alternative dentition programs. One being the Diversion Program, Diversion is a psychoeducational group for individuals referred through the court system for first-time minor offense. The program discusses decision making skills, anger management, communication skills and other components that will trigger criminal behaviors. There is also ODAP (Orleans Detention Alternative Program) which is another detention alternative that provides youth advocate for the juveniles as well as the HEAT program which is a substance abuse program for juveniles.
There are several helpful programs for juveniles when they are first arrested and awaiting their judgement. However, the issue at hand is there are not enough programs that help juveniles deal with post adjudication. If there was a post adjudication program it would be beneficial to the juveniles and their families and it will also help decrease the recidivism rate.
.
The need for a post adjudication program is at a high level.
It will allow juveniles to transition back into society without having the urge to be involved in delinquent behaviors. It will help them identify problem and how to handle them. It will focus on peer pressure which is a primary reason why most juveniles get arrested. Though the program will be for post adjudication it will also include parenting skills for those parents who have to continue to raise a child post adjudication. Being incarcerated can be a traumatizing event for anyone; which is why Mental Health services will be included in the post adjudication program. The program will not only help recidivism rates go down but will also help juvenile offender become law abiding
citizens.