Podcasts Explain Latest Trends in Youth Justice

Lemon­a­da Media has released three new pod­cast episodes explor­ing dif­fer­ent aspects of the juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem. These Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion-sup­­port­ed episodes high­light the con­nec­tion between com­mu­ni­ty safe­ty and pos­i­tive youth devel­op­ment, show­ing what helps young peo­ple mature into pro­duc­tive adults. They are ide­al for any­one inter­est­ed in under­stand­ing effec­tive ways to respond when young peo­ple make mis­takes and break the law.

Host­ed by Maya Rupert, the episodes are fea­tured in Good Things, a pod­cast series focused on prac­ti­cal solu­tions to some of the country’s most chal­leng­ing issues. It helps audi­ences move from fear to solu­tions for young peo­ple who encounter law enforcement.

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Episode 1: Rethink­ing Youth Crime (37 min­utes)

Risky or impul­sive behav­ior, such as under­age drink­ing, exper­i­ment­ing with drugs or shoplift­ing, is often a part of ado­les­cence. These moments are typ­i­cal­ly mis­takes that peo­ple move past with­out last­ing con­se­quences. How­ev­er, for some young peo­ple, this kind of bound­ary-test­ing can lead to involve­ment with the juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem. Nate Balis, direc­tor of the Juve­nile Jus­tice Strat­e­gy Group at the Casey Foun­da­tion, talks about refram­ing how we think about youth crime, the need for effec­tive solu­tions that pro­mote com­mu­ni­ty safe­ty and how much young peo­ple need adults in their corner.

Episode 2: Trans­form­ing Youth Pro­ba­tion (34 minutes)

As a youth pro­ba­tion offi­cer, Steve Bish­op want­ed the young peo­ple he worked with to have the same sup­port and oppor­tu­ni­ties he had grow­ing up — oppor­tu­ni­ties that kept him on track while some of his peers were derailed by involve­ment with the juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem. Now, as the asso­ciate direc­tor for Pro­ba­tion and Sys­tem Trans­for­ma­tion at Casey, Bish­op works to trans­form youth pro­ba­tion around the coun­try — hold­ing young peo­ple account­able for their actions by steer­ing them toward the kinds of guid­ance and sup­port that can help them grow into respon­si­ble adults. In this con­ver­sa­tion, Bish­op talks about how to cre­ate a more just and restora­tive sys­tem that’s based on rela­tion­ships, trust and community.

Episode 3: Account­abil­i­ty Through Com­mu­ni­ty and Rela­tion­ships (36 minutes)

The juve­nile court sys­tem in Pierce Coun­ty, Wash­ing­ton — home of Taco­ma — rec­og­nizes that most youth who get in trou­ble with the law can get back on track with­out incar­cer­a­tion. More­over, they’re more like­ly to thrive in their own com­mu­ni­ties than in deten­tion. Kevin Williams, man­ag­er of Pro­ba­tion Ser­vices for Pierce Coun­ty Juve­nile Court, and the Casey Foundation’s Steve Bish­op talk about what pro­ba­tion trans­for­ma­tion looks like in action and how account­abil­i­ty through com­mu­ni­ty rela­tion­ships is essen­tial to long-term com­mu­ni­ty safety.

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Learn about the ben­e­fits of oppor­tu­ni­ty-based probation