Important General Assembly Information

As you probably know, the Virginia General Assembly is in session!  Here’s what you need to know right now:

WE NEED YOU

If you are in the Richmond area or can come to Richmond on short notice to stand up for our youth, please get in touch with me as soon as possible, and I will add you to our FAVY Action Team for this session!  See below for some of the bills we are targeting.

If you can’t come to Richmond, watch out for action alerts with info on making calls or sending emails at key times.  We’ll provide fact sheets and information for both the FAVY Action Team and for action alerts.

BILLS WE OPPOSE

So far, there are several bills that we will oppose.  There may be more as we see what has been introduced.  The chief patron’s name follows the bill number.

HB718 (Kilgore) and SB419 (Stanley) Juveniles; trial as adults.  This bill greatly expands the number of youth who would be tried as adults automatically as well as through the sole discretion of the prosecutor.

SB412 (Norment) and HB624 (Albo) Sex offender registry; juvenile registration.  Requires registration on the sex offender registry for juveniles who were over the age of 13 at the time of the offense who were adjudicated delinquent on or after July 1, 2005, of rape, forcible sodomy or object sexual penetration.

HB463 (Byron) Juveniles; legal custody transferred to Department of Juvenile Justice.  Among other changes, HB 463 gives superintendents of DJJ facilities broad authority to “exercise any and all other rights and duties as the legal custodian of the child, including, without limitation, the right to consent to medical treatment” for youth in these facilities.  [Emphasis added.]

BILL WE PARTIALLY OPPOSE

SJ66 (McDougle) and HJ49 (Gilbert) Governor's Executive Reorganization Plan.  This bill would eliminate the Department of Correctional Education (DCE) and combine its functions with the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Correction.  This would be a loss for education, since neither of these departments has education as its primary mission.

BILLS WE SUPPORT

Here are some good bills that we support.

SB390 (Marsden) Juvenile life sentences.  Provides a mechanism for persons who are sentenced to life for a nonhomicide offense committed while a juvenile to petition the court for a modification of sentence.  This is in line with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

HB16 (Habeeb) Restoration of civil rights.  Provides for the automatic restoration of civil rights to people convicted of nonviolent felonies once they have completed their sentences, including probation and/or parole, and paid all fines, fees and restitution.

HB223 (Habeeb) Writ of actual innocence for juveniles adjudicated delinquent.  Provides a way for youth to get a writ of actual innocence from a court.  Right now that is only available to adults.

SJ 90 (Marsden) Study; JLARC to study excess capacity at secure juvenile facilities; report.  Directs the Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission to study excess capacity at secure juvenile facilities.

RESOURCES

Richmond Sunlight is a great resource for tracking bills and what’s happening.  You can track the bills we are monitoring on our Richmond Sunlight page: http://www.richmondsunlight.com/photosynthesis/3x978/  Click on the bills to learn more and to add comments if you like.  You can also create your own page to track bills -- for free!

 

The Legislative Information System is the official website for information on bills, Virginia Law, and many other useful links for the General Assembly: http://lis.virginia.gov/lis.htm

 

 

Who Would You Throw Away?

Members of Families & Allies of Virginia's Youth stand up for kids in Virginia's justice system.  These are young people who are too often forgotten, or worse: thrown away.

Please join us as we advocate for them to have a better chance of becoming successful adults.

In 2012, we are launching our Families Speak Out campaign to organize families, youth, and concerned community members into an even more effective force for change. 

You are the key to our success.  Please join us with a membership donation today!

Study Finds Youth Prisons "No Place for Kids"

photo by Steve Liss
The following is adapted from a news release by the JustChildren program of the Legal Aid Justice Center:

On October 1, in a report to the General Assembly, the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) recommended opening more beds in juvenile correctional centers.

Advocates representing youth and families criticize Virginia’s prioritization of incarcerating youth in centralized youth prisons over alternatives that will better help youth successfully return to the community. They point to the fact that over-reliance on incarceration drives up costs and does not improve public safety. Over half of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice’s budget -- about 114 million dollars – was spent on secure custody last year.

On the heels of the DJJ report, on October 4 the Annie E. Casey Foundation released its report No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration. The report is the most comprehensive recent analysis of research and new data on the effectiveness and costs of juvenile incarceration.

The report finds that there is overwhelming evidence that the wholesale incarceration of juvenile offenders is a failed strategy for combating youth crime.

“Nearly 70% of the youth released from Virginia’s juvenile correctional centers in 2006 were convicted of another crime within three years. If we really care about improving public safety, we should stop spending so much on an incarceration model that does not work” says Kate Duvall, an attorney with JustChildren, a program of the Legal Aid Justice Center.
“At a time when other states are closing secure facilities, the Department of Juvenile Justice’s request to open more beds in large correctional centers is a move in the wrong direction.”

Liane Rozzell, founder and Executive Director of Families & Allies of Virginia’s Youth, states, “Incarcerating youth does not rehabilitate them. Families want to see programs that will help youth turn around and lead successful lives. Virginia can do more to invest in proven, local programs and keep more youth out of incarceration in large, remote youth prisons.”

The following recommendations made in the report should be adopted in Virginia to enhance public safety and save taxpayer money:

1.    Limit incarceration to youth who have committed serious offenses. Virginia has already proven that it can invest in this kind of effective alternative to incarceration without threatening public safety. In July 2000, the criteria for commitment to a juvenile correctional center was changed from a felony or two class one misdemeanors to a felony or four class one misdemeanors. There has been no increase in juvenile crime since that time. In fact, between FY 2006 and FY 2010, intake cases decreased by nearly 11,000 cases, a 17% reduction. The number of felony intakes decreased the most dramatically, by 28%.

2. Invest in alternatives. In particular, Virginia should consider investing in proven alternatives to incarceration such as Multisystemic Therapy, Functional Family Therapy, and reentry programming like a detention reentry program or increased capacity in the already established Work Education Release Program.

3.    Replace large institutions with small, treatment-oriented facilities for serious youth offenders. Virginia currently has six juvenile correctional centers. Five of these are located in the Richmond area, a considerable distance from some youths’ families and community ties.

Links:
2011 Juvenile Correctional Center Utilization Report

No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration

Facts & Recommendations on Virginia's Overuse of Youth Prisons


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