Juvenile Justice Problems Essay

Three problems I have noticed while doing my research is that juveniles who have been transferred and sentenced as adults still have to be separated from adults while they are in prison. This causing them to have a lack in education, exercise, and nutrition. This could be reformed by designing and constructing a single large facility in a central location of the United States to serve as a juvenile prison for those transferred to adult courts and sentenced to long periods of imprisonment. This would allow these juveniles to receive equal exercise, education, and nutrition. At the point that they become an adult, they could be transferred to an adult prison and continue to receive the equal education, exercise, and nutrition benefits.
Another issue that the juvenile justice system faces is recidivism.
A good proactive way of dealing with this is by using restitution programs. These types of programs would force the juvenile to earn their own money to pay their restitution rather than relying on their parents to pay it for them. This causes the juvenile to understand both the emotional fulfillment and the stress of employment to pay for their own responsibilities which could also teach the juvenile skills which would benefit them into adulthood.

Officer discretion dealing with juvenile arrest causes another problem with the juvenile justice system. Some officers feel that the juvenile justice system is a waste of time and do not understand its purpose. Therefore, if they can legally not deal with a juvenile they won’t. I would propose a law which would make it mandatory for all juvenile offenders to at minimum be issued a juvenile citation and referred to the juvenile courts if the offense doesn’t already call for the juvenile to be taken into
custody.

Juveniles still seem to have problems with being appointed or having an attorney available to them.
I would propose that any and all juveniles which have been referred to the juvenile justice system should immediately be appointed an attorney prior to any showing in juvenile court. This attorney would be able to help the juvenile and their parents understand the proceedings as well as provide legal assistance for the defense of the
juvenile.
Juveniles frequently pose issues with truancy laws within the juvenile justice system. I would propose that even though the state of Tennessee already suspends the juvenile’s driver’s license even if they do not currently hold one, that the juvenile should be placed on monitored house arrest for a specified period of time. During this period of time, the juvenile would have to show proof of them going to school and performing at a satisfactory level while attending school prior to being released from the monitored house arrest.

There has been an increase of juvenile girls in the juvenile justice system, and the programs used for rehabilitation are mainly focused with young males. There should be programs developed which would focus on juvenile females and helping them to make good decisions for their future. These programs should include some type of community service where they can be taught skills for work. They should also be more involved with their communities’ social programs to become better acquainted with their community.

Juvenile status offenses need immediate attention and community interventions which courts are not equipped to handle. I propose that every judicial district within the state should appoint an individual to adequately research ways in which the community could handle interventions with juvenile status offenses. After research has been completed, there should be a community meeting to determine which resolutions could be quickly enacted within the community which would provide the best immediate action to the problems.