FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2011
Contact:
Kathy Mimberg
(202) 785-1670
Report says Latino youth are unfairly treated in the system
Washington, DC—In a report released today, NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, called on the U.S. Congress to reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA) in order to make our nation’s juvenile justice system stronger and increase support for prevention and rehabilitation programs.
The report, Reauthorizing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act: The Impact on Latino Youth,provides background on the major issues that Latino youth face in the juvenile justice system, examines gaps in current law, and offers recommendations for reauthorization of the legislation that will lead to fairer and more comprehensive treatment of Latino youth. It highlights community-based alternatives as a lower-cost and more effective alternative to detention.
Each day, an estimated 18,000 Hispanic youth can be found in jails, prisons, and detention centers in the U.S. The reauthorization of JJDPA—which has been pending in Congress since 2007—would address the overrepresentation of Latino youth in the juvenile justice system, the harsher treatment that they receive compared to White youth who commit the same offenses, and the policies that treat youth as adults, disproportionately affecting Latinos. JJDPA sets standards that apply to all youth involved in the juvenile justice system.
“Our juvenile justice system is in dire need of reform,” said Eric Rodriguez, NCLR Vice President, Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation. “Congress needs to renew this important legislation and embrace community-based programs that reach Latino youth before they come into contact with law enforcement, helping these children stay out of trouble.”
Of related interest, a previous NCLR study, Speaking Out: Latino Youth on Discrimination in the United States,documents the pervasive discrimination that Latino youth experience daily from adults. The teenagers who were interviewed described feeling unfairly and habitually profiled by law enforcement as a result of negative assumptions regarding Hispanic youth, gangs, and immigrants.
The new report, Reauthorizing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act: The Impact on Latino Youth, which is available at www.nclr.org/jj, provides NCLR’s recommendations for Congress to support evidence-based practices that keep Latino youth out of jail and prevent recidivism, as well as to protect youth from the dangers of being held in jails and prisons, especially with adults. NCLR works closely with many local organizations throughout the U.S. that offer a model for prevention and rehabilitation services for Latino youth, including:
Southwest Key Programs, based in Austin, Texas, provides a continuum of services that keep youth across the country out of the juvenile justice system. Programs include delinquency prevention and alternatives to detention services tailored to the cultural and linguistic needs of youth and families.
Enlace Chicago works to prevent youth and gang violence in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. Staff at Enlace—many of whom are bilingual and bicultural—provide holistic services to youth ranging from mentoring to court advocacy. Enlace Chicago also advocates for juvenile justice reforms in Illinois and at the federal level.
El Centro de la Raza, in Seattle, Washington, offers a variety of bilingual and multicultural services that provide cultural education and violence prevention to Latinos and other youth in Seattle. El Centro also educates the community and conducts local advocacy on juvenile justice issues.
Men in Motion in the Community (MIMIC) works to prevent delinquency among young men in north Philadelphia through intensive mentoring relationships, community support, and educational enrichment. The deep ties that MIMIC volunteers have to the community are vital to the success of their work.
“It has been our experience at Enlace Chicago that culturally competent, community-based prevention and intervention programs are extremely important to improving the outcomes for Latino youth. Alternative programs have proven more effective at reducing recidivism and are much more cost-efficient than incarceration,” said Mike Rodriguez, Executive Director of Enlace Chicago.
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