Criminal Justice & Youth Outreach (CJYO)

Sunday, December 14, 2014

The Facility History of MacLaren Youth Correctional & Amos Reed | CJYO 2014

The Facility History

of MacLaren Youth Correctional

& Amos Reed

Victor of CJYO conducted his presentation on Project Pooch, learn more here www.pooch.org and the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. In the Facility History of Victor's presentation he cited an article from the Oregon Herald published in 2013 titled 'MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility Employees Honored for Excellence'. The discussion not only focused on the tone of how the writer acknowledges MacLaren's conflicted past, but also the commentary included in the article which you can read here that gives glimpses to what people experienced that were committed to the facility click here.

Tapping into the Google Newspaper archives, I discovered an article published in August 12, 1963 titled 'Crowding Plauges MacLaren'. It includes details debating the facilities approach to incarceration and a look at the facility's superintendent, Amos Reed.

Here is a quote from the article. You can read the full article by clicking on the link below.

"Another factor is the age and background of the boys, many of whom are at the stage where they refuse to form close associations with others, particularly with adults.

The personality of the superintendent may also be a cause. His knowledge of correctional work is voluminous, he seems to be an excellent administrator, and he knows how to deal with Oregon's inscrutable Legislature.

But Amos Reed is a serious reserved man who seldom smiles. The boys at MacLaren greet him formally on the grounds, and only rare does he know them by sight.

He does know their backgrounds, however, and their needs and he has built at MacLaren, a program designed to offer something for every boy who is sent there."

To read the complete article click here.

Wilson, Jack. "Crowding Plagues MacLaren." Eugene Register Guard 12 Aug 1963. Google Newspaper Archive. Online.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

The Birth of Montgomery County Correctional Facility | CJYO2014

The Birth of Montgomery County Correctional Facility

To make the newspaper article bigger and more readable, simply click on each one. This was found after reviewing the "Helping Youth" presentation by Vanessa on the Class Acts Arts Project Youth ArtReach program in Maryland at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. The article provides information on the facility's history dating back to September 4, 2001 when it was published in the Frederick Post.

Boin, Sonia. "Montgomery Jail will be a 'Self-Contained City'." The Frederick Post 4 Sept 2001. The Newspaper Archive. Vol. 91, No. 225. Cover & A-16. Online.

A Note on the CJYO Fall Semester 2014 & Grading Finals by Instructor Lecroy Rhyanes

This week and throughout the weekend I'm grading the final presentations of students enrolled in this semester's Criminal Justice & Youth Outreach (CJYO) course subtitled Creative Expression in Juvenile Detention. The final project is the CJYO Digital Program Presentation and consisted of a semester long study of a creative expression program, juvenile facility, and the community (or communities) from which they coexist. Students posted their presentation on the Canvas Learning Management System Discussion Board and have been reflecting on their research and the presentations of fellow students throughout the month of December. The presentation sections include an Introduction, Responsive Essay, a Demographic Profile of the Program Location utilizing the U.S. Census, research of the Facility's History, a Creative Expression Program Profile, Bibliography & Notes, along with staff interviews (if they were able to get in contact with a program representative), and the sharing of digital multimedia such as Soundcloud audios & YouTube videos.

My grading process engages in conversation with the students about their findings and gives me the chance to share resources I discovered reviewing their presentations.

This project provides students an opportunity to understand the purpose of creative expression programs, their history, and present day involvement in communities all around the nation (and in the UK and Australia). In other semesters of CJYO studies also focused on examining creative justice programs from around the world.

It's a great opportunity to take the time to study and acknowledge what is out there. As an undergraduate, one of the most pivotal moments in my educational career was learning about programs and people that shared a common interest with what motivated me to get involved in the justice system. It's a great way to understand how advocacy and creativity function in a system as stringent as corrections and as detached from the community as some juvenile justice systems are. It's also about helping students develop what I call their research personality so that they can include a piece of themselves in what they're learning/presenting. Whether it has to do with their personal views and experiences of the justice system, or the next steps in their own justice journey.

To me its a unique way to bring online learning to life and to hold each other accountable to the information we're taking in. I feel there is a sense of responsibility in how we present ourselves to the justice system, whether we aspire to work for it, change it, or both.

Therefore, in the next couple of days, you will see a variety of posts throughout the day, early morning, and on into the night about programs and facilities around the United States including links, videos, audios, newspaper attachments, and other.

A special thanks to the students of CJYO 2014. This is tenth course I've facilitated as an adjunct instructor at NMSU with a group that makes up an enrollment body of 124 students solely for CJYO. There are also enrollments for students of The Beat Within (TBW) courses and the Juvenile Justice Outreach & Community Education (JJOCE) courses during the summer. In the Spring, we'll also be welcoming the beginning of a newly developed course titled Criminal Justice & Families (CJF), Understanding the Prison Family Journey. This course will be co-facilitated with the authors of The Unvarnished Truth About the Prison Family Journey, Carolyn Esparza and Phillip Don Yow, Sr. with the goal of not only engaging in a close reading + discussion of the text... but also contributing to the development of a community resource guide, student guide, and teacher guide during the summer and Fall of 2015.

I'd like to congratulate all students celebrating this evening after the commencement ceremony this afternoon and to those that will be returning next semester for CJF, we look forward to welcoming the new year with you.

Stay tuned for the CJYO 2014 postings!

We'll also be sharing updates on twitter.com/vbehindw.

Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project | ((The Moment You Were Born))

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Young People’s Experiences in the Criminal Justice System

In Their Own Words: Young People’s Experiences in the Criminal Justice System
and Their Perceptions of Its Legitimacy

More Information including Download Report: click here

"While there is a growing consensus that the country needs to re-examine the criminal justice system’s prosecution of serious young offenders, there is little documentation of how this population experiences and perceives the laws, policies, and practices that are intended to hold them accountable.

To address this shortcoming, the John Howard Association, Illinois’ only non-partisan prison watchdog, has completed a provocative new report, In Their Own Words, (PDF) that chronicles six young serious offenders’ journey through Illinois’ criminal justice system, from arrest to incarceration.

Based on this work, JHA's report offers four steps that policymakers should take to improve the fairness and effectiveness of the criminal justice system’s response to youth prosecuted for serious crimes:

1. Empower judges to determine whether serious young offenders should be tried in juvenile or criminal court, regardless of the crime they are accused of committing.

2. Provide young offenders with greater access to counsel during police encounters and pre-trial custody.

3. Ensure that attorneys and judges who deal with this population are trained in adolescent brain development and how to effectively communicate with young people.

4. Establish separate correctional facilities, treatment programs, and a sentencing scheme that takes into account young offenders’ mental immaturity and ongoing development.

Alongside these specific policy recommendations, In Their Own Words focuses on the root causes of violence that plague some of the country’s poorest minority communities, from parts of Chicago's South and West Sides to Ferguson, Missouri. Instead of over-relying on severe criminal penalties, JHA argues that the justice system must build the kind of civic trust that will promote safer communities by meeting people where they are and listening to them in their own words."

John Howard Association of Illinois (JHA). "In Their Own Words: Young People's Experiences in the Criminal Justice System and Their Perceptions of Its Legitimacy." John Howard Association of Illinois. (2014). Web. 9 Oct 2014. http://thejha.org/words

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Notes on Mentoring Youth & Young Parents Guidebook

Mentoring Youth and Young Parents

A Guidebook for Programs Helping Youth

& Young Parents Navigate a Pathway

to Self-Sufficiency

Download: click here

U.S. Department of Labor

Social Policy Research Associates

Since 2011, the CJYO coursework has involved students developing Youth Program Proposals that follow a set of specific steps and requirements highlighted in this report. Along with being a good resource for learning about mentoring, including other available resources, this can also compliment projects that involve proposing a community based geared towards serving youth. Will continue reading... So for noted its emphasis on high quality mentoring as promoting positive behaviors and attitudes as well as defining mentor roles that are built on consistency, endurance, and instead of the term "close", I'd prefer to utilize a term like "genuine". Other notes in the report characters the mentor relationship as one characterized by mutuality, trust, and empathy "that spans a signficant period and is focused on the young person's interests and preferences.

As we've stressed in semester's past the report states, "it is important to have an understanding of the current economic and social factors in your community that might affect your population." These notes are from the first step in laying the groundwork for building a program. I think readers that are interested in finding ways to improve their understanding of current economic and social factors would benefit from participating in local councils and regional service providers that provide technical assistance and training on how to use sites like Census.gov. Also linking with existing programs is another point emphasized in this article especially to study the data, trends, and issues that they're learning from the community from their own data collection efforts, surveys, etc.

I like that the first step in this report is titled groundwork... especially since the passion and drive that people start with can often be extinguished by the amount of research, though, writing, and planning that goes into carrying a project like this.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

The Story of Barney Lee and the CYA / August 1942

The Story of Barney Lee
**click on the image to enlarge**

California Youth Authority's 1st Charge

Click on the image to enlarge. The article was discovered utilizing the Newspaper Archive and was accessed from the Oakland Tribute, published Friday, August 14, 1942. It is about the first youth committed to the California Youth Correction Authority after his stay at San Quentin's prison hospital. The article mentions youth under the age of 16 were segregated from the adult population by state law. This article was found out of interest to learn more about the CYA's inception and why it was built. Inspired also by Will Roy's interview and Nell Bernstein's Burning Down the House, The End of Juvenile Prison text, specifically chapter 2, 'Birth of an Abomination: The Juvenile Prison in the Nineteenth Century'.

Below is a quote from the article:

"The action came in the wake of widespread protest against the child slayer's commitment to prison among hardened criminals - protest that came even from the convicts themselves."