National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Passes a Set of Practice Reform Resolutions

Date01 December 2017
Published date01 December 2017
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/jfcj.12102
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court
Judges Passes a Set of Practice Reform
Resolutions
By Melissa Sickmund
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) recently
passed resolutions and policy statements on how to improve the lives of youth and
families involved with juvenile or family courts. These resolutions address the needs
of homeless youth and their families, juvenile probation and adolescent development,
and the need for independent oversight of youth confinement facilities.
Key words: juvenile court, probation, adolescent development, homelessness, confinement.
ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF HOMELESS YOUTH AND
FAMILIES IN JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURTS
The NCJFCJ passed a resolution addressing the needs and issues of homeless youth
and families in juvenile and family courts (National Council of Juvenile and Family
Court Judges, 2017a). The NCJFCJ resolution recognizes that juvenile court judges have
a responsibility and a leadership role in their communities to care for and protect youth
within their jurisdictions. This includes safe and stable housing, connecting youth to ser-
vices that include case management, alternative housing, substance abuse and mental
health services, life skills and counseling, and family reunification, where possible and
appropriate, to improve their outcomes. The NCJFCJ calls for judges to provide strong
leadership on this issue to convene child welfare and juvenile justice system stakeholders
to develop strategies to improve responses to youth experiencing or who have experi-
enced homelessness. A coordinated response is needed to increase the effectiveness of all
justice and child-serving systems in identifying youth who lack stable and secure hous-
ing at the earliest stage possible and to provide services necessary for them.
There were an estimated 200,000 families with children who were homeless on a
single night in 2016, of which 35,000 were unaccompanied youth younger than 24 (US
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2016). Other estimates indicate
380,000 youth younger than 18 experienced a period of homelessness of 1 week or more
during the year and nearly 90,000 students in public schools are homeless (Coalition for
Juvenile Justice, 2017). In a study of homeless youth, 44% said that they had a stay in
Juvenile and Family Court Journal 68, No. 4
©2017 National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
43

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