Juvenile Law Center Strategic Plan 2009-2011

Strategic Plan 2009-2011

Recipient of the 2008 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions

Juvenile Law Center

Board of Directors*

Staff

Eric S. Koenig, Esq. President

Robert G. Schwartz, Esq. Executive Director

Claire A. Walker, Ph.D. Vice President

Marsha L. Levick, Esq. Deputy Director and Chief Counsel

Andrew Wesztergom Treasurer

Lourdes M. Rosado, Esq. Associate Director

Hon. John L. Braxton Secretary

Jennifer Pokempner, Esq. Supervising Attorney

Jonathan W. Cuneo, Esq. Anita L. DeFrantz Peter B. Edelman, Esq. Vernon L. Francis, Esq. Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr. Richard D. Holder Kathryn M. Markgraf Robert J. Reinstein, Esq. John A. Rich, M.D., M.P.H. Ann Rosewater Michael C. Ruger, Esq. Lynn E. Rzonca, Esq. Daniel Segal, Esq. Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D. Sheila R. Willard Juan Williams Barry L. Zubrow

Jessica Feierman, Esq. Supervising Attorney

Director Emeritus Sol E. Zubrow (1976-1993)

* Fall, 2008

Cover art by muralist Eric Okdeh for the Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia Mural, Rights and Responsibilities. February 2009 © Juvenile Law Center

Neha Desai, Esq. Riya S. Shah, Esq. Emily Keller, Esq. Zubrow Fellow Sherry E. Orbach, Esq. Zubrow Fellow Joanna Darcus Autumn Dickman, MSS, MLSP Jeff Frankl Debbie A. Hollimon-Williams Rosie McNamara-Jones Joann Viola

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

1

Introduction and Overview

3

Substantive Areas of Work

6

Successful Transition to Adulthood by Youth in Foster Care

6

Access to Education by Youth in Foster Care

7

Developmentally Appropriate Juvenile and Criminal Justice Policies

9

Mental Health Needs of Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

11

Access to Education by Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

12

Access to Counsel for Youth in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems

13

Rational Confidentiality and Information Sharing Policies

15

Special Needs of Girls in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems

16

Major New Project Initiatives

17

National Policy Center

17

Academic Advisory Board

18

National Back-up and Training Center

19

Pro Bono Initiative

20

Measuring Success

21

Juvenile Law Center’s Vision for 2018

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Executive Summary

Juvenile Law Center’s mission Advancing the rights and well being of children in jeopardy Founded in 1975, Juvenile Law Center (JLC) is the oldest multi-issue public interest law firm for children in the United States. With an approach grounded in principles of adolescent development, JLC uses the law on behalf of youth in the child welfare and criminal and juvenile justice systems to promote fairness, prevent harm, ensure access to appropriate services and create opportunities. JLC uses an array of legal and other advocacy strategies to ensure that the child welfare, juvenile justice, and other public systems provide vulnerable children with the protection and services they need to become healthy and productive adults.

Juvenile Law Center’s substantive areas of work Juvenile Law Center’s substantive spotlight will continue to focus on reforming the child welfare and juvenile justice systems for adolescents at the local, state and national levels. This includes ensuring that those systems are aligned with principles of adolescent development and respect for human rights, and that they provide for teens’ access to education, physical and behavioral health care, and other supports youth need to become productive adults. Juvenile Law Center will continue to work in both Pennsylvania and across the county. Our Pennsylvania work will enable us to continue to prioritize our efforts, engaging in our most in-depth work locally where our experienced staff can leverage its knowledge of current executive, legislative and judicial leadership, and its experience and instincts about how best to effect change in local and state systems. Nationally, we will work to achieve broad policy reforms through involvement in selected cases either as co-counsel or amicus curiae; dissemination and distribution of JLC publications; training; consultation and advice to colleagues; collaboration with other national organizations on policy analysis and advocacy; and the development of a new and innovative national scorecard for rating state child welfare and juvenile justice policies.

Juvenile Law Center will seek to advance its mission in 2009-2011 in the following eight substantive areas Successful Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Foster Care JLC’s goal is to ensure that the child welfare system promotes the successful transition to adulthood of teenagers in foster care. Access to Education for Youth in Foster Care JLC’s goal is to ensure that youth in foster care have access to education and an opportunity to succeed in school. Developmentally Appropriate Juvenile and Criminal Justice Policies JLC’s goal is to ensure that juvenile and criminal justice policies and practices are aligned with principles of adolescent development. Mental Health Needs of Youth in the Juvenile Justice System JLC’s goal is to ensure that juvenile justice policies and practices respond to youths’ mental health needs.

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“ Founded in 1975, Juvenile Law Center (JLC) is the oldest multi-issue public interest law firm for children in the United States.”

Access to Education by Youth in the Juvenile Justice System JLC’s goal is to ensure that youth in the juvenile justice system have access to basic and special education and the opportunity to succeed. Access to Counsel for Youth in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems JLC’s goal is to ensure that youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems have timely access to quality counsel throughout their involvement with these systems. Rational Confidentiality and Information-Sharing Policies JLC’s goal is to ensure that sensitive information about youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems is used and shared in ways that promote better outcomes for youth while protecting their rights and respecting their privacy concerns. Special Needs of Girls in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems JLC’s goal is to ensure that the child welfare and juvenile justice systems have the capacity to respond to the unique needs of adolescent girls.

Juvenile Law Center’s new project initiatives JLC will undertake four new initiatives in 2009-2011 in support of achieving our goals nationally in the substantive areas described above: National Policy Center JLC will create an in-house policy arm to research, identify and promote child welfare and juvenile justice laws and policies that advance JLC’s mission. Academic Advisory Board JLC will establish an Academic Advisory Board to inform and enhance the use of research in JLC’s legal advocacy and review model policies for the National Policy Center. National Back-up and Training Center JLC will establish a formal center to provide assistance and training to attorneys who represent children in dependency and delinquency court proceedings. Pro Bono Initiative JLC will engage lawyers to do pro bono work that advances its mission and activities.

Measuring success Juvenile Law Center measures progress through client and consumer feedback and data, as well as changes in policies and practices. We examine outcomes in terms of impact (on individual children and families); influence (the changes in policy and practice we create that will have an impact on children’s lives); and leverage (getting others, such as advocates, lawyers, parents and foundations to devote time and dollars to JLC’s goals).

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Introduction and Overview

This plan builds on work that was the focus of Juvenile Law Center’s 2002 and 2005 plans, while embarking on several new or augmented initiatives. Focusing on adolescents in child welfare and the justice system: Juvenile Law Center focuses on the needs and rights of adolescents who are at risk of or have spent time in the custody of the child welfare or juvenile or criminal justice systems. Nationwide, there are 600,000 children and youth in foster care, with more than 20,000 “aging out” of foster care each year. There are more than 20,000 youth in foster care in Pennsylvania. Each year, two million American youth are arrested; in Pennsylvania, juvenile courts hear over 40,000 delinquency cases each year. Adolescents in the child welfare system: The child welfare system is responsible for child protection-including protecting children in their own homes or, if that isn’t possible, providing substitute care including foster care. In order to be successful, adolescents and youth aging out of foster care need access to basic and special education, as well as physical and behavioral health care. Those who are aging out of the foster care system to independence also need housing, job training, and other supports to succeed. While federal law provides some protections, the support youth receive varies widely from state to state. In many, if not all states, older youth in care do not receive the support they deserve to make a transition to a productive adulthood. Adolescents in the juvenile and criminal justice systems: The juvenile and criminal justice systems often fail to take account of principles of adolescent development, and frequently violate the Constitution and other laws. Most youth charged with crimes are processed in the juvenile justice system. A small percentage in every state are tried and sentenced as adults. Youth who are tried as adults are generally subject to the same sentencing schemes as adults. While the U.S. Constitution, to some extent, regulates state justice systems (e.g., requiring that delinquent youth have counsel or barring execution of those who were under 18 at the time of their crimes), the federal government plays a much smaller role in juvenile justice than it does in child welfare. In many states, youth in the juvenile justice system fail to receive the education and treatment for physical and behavioral health needs to which they are entitled. When youth are tried and/or sentenced as adults, their access to treatment is severely limited, completely ignoring their developmental status.

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“ Each year, two million American youth are arrested; in Pennsylvania, juvenile courts hear over 40,000 delinquency cases each year.”

Juvenile Law Center’s substantive spotlight will remain on reforming the child welfare and juvenile justice systems for adolescents. This includes ensuring that those systems are aligned with principles of adolescent development, honor human rights, and ensure teens’ access to education, physical and behavioral health care, and other supports they need to be productive adults. JLC will bring increased attention to promoting rational information-sharing and juvenile record expungement policies, as we use the law to ensure that information supports positive youth outcomes. Creating the future: Visions of the future are not self-actuating-they do not happen by wishing them to be so. JLC and our colleagues have a history of anticipating the future and creating it. We have helped turn nascent goals into ideas that are in wide currency around the country. Examples over the last decade or so include our work on ending mandatory zero tolerance policies, addressing the education of delinquent and dependent youth, helping to introduce adolescent development into the jurisprudence of juvenile justice, and highlighting the overlap between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Our work has led other professionals to pick up our issues across the country, enabling us to play key supporting roles or leadership roles as needed, even as we nurture new issues. For these reasons, the MacArthur Foundation honored JLC in 2008 with its Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Augmenting national work: To accomplish its goals, JLC will significantly augment its national policy work. We will create a national policy arm that will establish model policies against which state policies can be rated, as well as a national back-up center for lawyers who represent children. We will dramatically expand pro bono opportunities for lawyers in Pennsylvania and across the country who want to join our effort to give youth opportunities, to see that youth are treated fairly, and to protect youth from harm. Building JLC’s capacity: This plan also calls for JLC to carefully add staff to strengthen our infrastructure, including adding to our development staff. We will invest most of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions and use the rest in the short-term to promote JLC’s long-term viabiity. JLC will have a stable, experienced staff that is disciplined, nimble, and creative. Staff compensation and benefits will promote stability and ensure that staff members are healthy, refreshed, and clear-thinking. Our revenue streams will match our ambitions. Communications, marketing, and development will be integrated into JLC’s work. JLC’s Board of Directors will continue to be comprised of leaders from academia, medicine, law, business, communications, and other fields who are stewards of JLC’s future. The Board will manage JLC’s endowment, assist with development, provide wisdom and guidance, and ensure that JLC has the capacity to reach its goals and objectives.

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Substantive Areas of Work

Successful transition to adulthood by youth in foster care Goal Ensure that the child welfare system promotes the successful transition to adulthood of teenagers in foster care. Issues and Needs Every year in the United States about 20,000 youth “age out” of the foster care system; Pennsylvania accounts for more than 1,500 of those youth. Research has confirmed that these youth face tremendous challenges when they leave the foster care system. They often struggle to support themselves and to further their education and acquire skills they will need to obtain and hold a job with a living wage and insurance. In fall 2008, the federal “Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act” was enacted. This new law expands funding for states to serve foster youth ages 18-21 and is a critical tool that JLC and its national partners will use to reform state policies and practices to better serve aging-out youth. JLC will work with national partners to urge more states to enact legislation and policies that will ensure that: (1) older youth in care (ages 14-21) have sufficient access to all permanency services so that they can spend as little time in the system as needed and achieve permanency, either through reunification with their families or placement with a new family; and (2) youth leaving foster care have a transition plan that encompasses their basic needs, including housing, education, work, and health care as well as supportive relationships that they can count on. Action Steps • Develop model legislation and policies on permanency and transition planning for older youth in the child welfare system. Rate current state statutes and policies against the models, which will be considered “benchmarks.” (See discussion of National Policy Center and Academic Advisory Board below in section on Major New Initiatives.) • Advocate in Pennsylvania and selected states for new laws and policies in line with the JLCdeveloped models. • File appellate and amicus briefs in Pennsylvania and selected states in cases involving critical legal issues affecting transitioning youth. • Involve youth in advocacy by supporting their participation in Pennsylvania’s Youth Advisory Board to child welfare agencies (mandated by federal legislation) and providing training on their rights and the development of leadership skills. • Promote media coverage of the challenges facing older youth in care and deficiencies in existing state laws/policies as an advocacy tool to push for reform. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Number of states that adopt JLC model legislation or policy. • Number of favorable court rulings. • Number of youth actively involved with Pennsylvania’s Youth Advisory Board. • Amount of media coverage of the challenges facing older youth in care, deficiencies in existing state laws/policies, and recommendations for reform. 5

“ Nationwide, there are 600,000 children and youth in foster care, with more than 20,000 ‘aging out’ of foster care each year.”

Access to education by youth in foster care Goal Ensure that youth in foster care have access to education and an opportunity to succeed in school. Issues and Needs When youth change living placements, they are often forced to move between schools. Research shows that every time a child in foster care changes schools he or she loses four to six months of educational progress. Once a child has changed schools, the child also faces a new set of problems. New school districts often illegally bar the entry of youth in care for a variety of reasons: because they fear that these youth have special education needs, behavior problems and low test-scores, or simply because it’s hard to accommodate youth who arrive mid-year or even mid-semester. When foster youth are admitted, new schools often decline to transfer credits from the prior school, forcing youth to re-take classes and sometimes to forfeit their diplomas. Foster youth who want to pursue higher education also face numerous obstacles, including obtaining housing while in college and an array of supportive services to help them cope. Juvenile Law Center’s foster care and education project - in partnership with Education Law Center-PA and the American Bar Association - addresses these issues in Pennsylvania and across the country. Our joint Blueprint for Change publication sets forth JLC’s framework for action both locally and nationally. JLC’s current work focuses on achieving the following Blueprint goals for youth: school stability, seamless transitions between schools, and nondiscrimination and school supports for youth in care. JLC and its partners will continue to work for successful implementation of the legal changes we’ve already accomplished in Pennsylvania, push for additional legal reforms, and begin to work for system reforms on the rest of the goals outlined in the Blueprint. JLC and its partners will use the recently enacted “Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act” as leverage to push more states to take affirmative steps to ensure greater school stability for youth in care. Action Steps • Train and communicate to the field in Pennsylvania on the new Department of Public Welfare and Department of Education Bulletins, which reinforce each other by requiring social workers and educators to promote educational stability for youth in care. • Advocate for the adoption of Pennsylvania state law on school stability, credit transfer and granting of diplomas. • Provide support to youth on Pennsylvania’s Youth Advisory Board Youth (YAB) as they advocate for state legislation that would provide a college tuition waiver for former and current foster youth who attend in-state universities. • Develop model state legislation and policies based on the Blueprint. Rate current state statutes and policies against the models, which will be considered “benchmarks.” (See discussion of National Policy Center and Academic Advisory Board below in section on Major New Initiatives.)

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• Through our national collaborators - the Legal Center for Foster Care & Education and the National Working Group on Foster Care & Education - provide technical support and legal expertise to other state-level advocates across the country who are working to implement the Blueprint framework and goals in their jurisdictions. • Promote media coverage of the educational challenges facing youth in care and deficiencies in existing state laws/policies as an advocacy tool to push for reform. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Number of states that adopt JLC model legislation or policy. • Amount of media coverage of the education challenges facing youth in care, deficiencies in existing state laws/policies, and recommendations for reform.

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Developmentally appropriate juvenile and criminal justice policies Goal Ensure that juvenile and criminal justice policies and practices are aligned with research on adolescent development. Issues and Needs The developmental characteristics of adolescents and their diminished capacities affect both their decision-making in the system (e.g., competence to participate as trial defendants in the criminal or juvenile justice system or to waive rights, such as Miranda rights or their right to counsel) and their blameworthiness for the conduct with which they are charged. Developmental psychology, which was the foundation of the United States Supreme Court’s opinion ending the juvenile death penalty in Roper v. Simmons in 2005, has now been enhanced by the emerging science of brain research. Neuroscientists, through brain imaging, are providing visual evidence of the research findings of developmental psychologists: by showing that the adolescent brain is continually developing throughout adolescence and how that affects teens’ abilities to govern their behavior, the images corroborate the developmental characteristics that psychologists had previously identified. These findings have implications for treatment of youth in either the juvenile or criminal justice system. In the post-Roper era, juvenile and criminal justice policies and practices that take little or no account of the developmental differences between adolescent and adult offenders are subject to challenge. While Roper is not a silver bullet, it has opened new avenues and theories for legal challenges to the ‘adultification’ of juvenile offenders as well as in right to counsel cases and institutional litigation. The influx of juveniles into the adult system as a result of legislative changes in the 1990’s has exposed juveniles to all of the harsh features of that system - lengthy sentences with no consideration for rehabilitation, treatment or education. Juvenile Law Center is among a small group of public interest law firms that concentrate on challenges to transfer and sentencing laws for juveniles, heavily drawing on the adolescent development scholarship and brain science. JLC was the co-author of the advocates’ amicus brief in Roper; participated in the MacArthur Research Network that connected adolescent development research with juvenile justice policy; and continues to be in the forefront of thinking and strategizing about legal challenges in this area. JLC Board member Larry Steinberg has also been at the forefront of much of this research. Additionally, JLC has deep experience in litigating other key juvenile justice issues. Because the Roper court also relied on international law in its holding, JLC has begun incorporating international law and human rights arguments into briefs.

“ In 1975, four ambitious law graduates established the Juvenile Law Center – and they’ve been leading the way in child advocacy ever since. Over the years, JLC has demonstrated flexibility in its approaches and focus, while remaining true to the experiences and convictions of the young people it represents.” ~Emily Buss, Director of Chicago Policy Initiatives at The University of Chicago Law School

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Action Steps • Research and author briefs in key juvenile and criminal justice appeals in federal and state courts to align law with adolescent development scholarship and brain research, as well as with international law and human rights principles. JLC will focus its appellate work on the following issues: • Jurisdictional issues (whether youth should be tried in juvenile or adult court); • Sentencing, including lengthy mandatory adult sentences and Juvenile Life Without the Possibility of Parole (JLWOP); • Right to counsel; • Admissibility of youth confessions; and • Competency of youth to be trial defendants. • Bring affirmative conditions of confinement litigation as needed in Pennsylvania and selected other states. • Develop model legislation in the areas listed above. Rate current state statutes and policies against the models, which will be considered “benchmarks.” (See discussion below of Major New Initiatives.) • With the National Juvenile Defender Center, produce the second edition of the Understanding Adolescents training curriculum. • Promote media coverage of issues listed above, as an advocacy tool to push for reform of state laws in these areas. • Engage youth who are in the juvenile justice system in policy reform efforts. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Number of states that adopt JLC model legislation or policy. • Number of favorable court rulings and settlements. • Number of trainings of juvenile justice personnel using the Understanding Adolescents training curriculum.

“ A lot of foster kids feel like the child welfare system is ‘as good as it gets’ and they shouldn’t expect much more out of life. Juvenile Law Center helps kids find their voice, helps them understand that they have a right to be treated fairly, that they can have dreams and productive lives beyond the system. My foster parents and Juvenile Law Center have inspired me to not only help myself, but to help others and that’s what I intend to do with my life.” ~Shaheed Days, Juvenile Law Center Intern and 17 year veteran of the foster care system

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Mental health needs of youth in the juvenile justice system Goal Ensure that juvenile justice policies and practices respond to youths’ mental health needs. Issues and Needs The high prevalence of mental disabilities among youth in the juvenile justice system has been well documented. Large scale studies show that as many as 65%-75% of youth in the juvenile justice system have one or more diagnosable psychiatric disorders. Unless appropriately identified and treated, these youth will pose a safety risk to themselves and others in institutions and sink deeper and deeper into the juvenile justice system as they are unable to meet their rehabilitation goals. The mental health needs of this population have spawned a number of initiatives around the country for earlier and more comprehensive screening, assessment and treatment. However, defense attorneys are often not involved in developing and monitoring these initiatives, which can often result in negative collateral consequences for youth as defendants in court. Moreover, most youth are still directed into interventions and placements that are not evidence-based; there is still much work to be done to convince policymakers and juvenile justice stakeholders to direct funds into evidence-based programming. Finally, we know that family involvement is critical in the treatment of youth with mental health disorders; however, the juvenile justice system, which is a non-voluntary, adversarial system, does not currently work well with families. Juvenile Law Center plays a leading role in Pennsylvania’s effort to implement the policy goals set forth in the state Mental Health/Juvenile Justice work group’s Joint Position Statement for Models for Change. JLC will continue to lead the Pennsylvania delegation to the Models for Change Mental Health/Juvenile Justice Action Network. Action Steps • Promote the adoption in Pennsylvania of statewide policy and practice standards for the diversion of youth with mental health disorders and other special needs from the juvenile justice system. • Provide technical assistance to selected counties in Pennsylvania in the development and implementation of diversion programs aimed at youth with mental health disorders and other special needs. • Support the development and implementation in Pennsylvania of a white paper on family involvement of youth with mental health disorders in the juvenile justice system. • Provide technical assistance to other states, including other Models For Change jurisdictions, to develop and enact legislation that protects youth from self-incrimination in screening, assessment and treatment for mental health disorders. (See also section below on Rational Confidentiality and Information Policies. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Adoption in Pennsylvania of statewide standards regarding diversion of youth with mental health disorders. • Adoption in Pennsylvania of statewide standards regarding family involvement in the juvenile justice system. • Number of new diversion programs in Pennsylvania counties targeting youth with mental health disorders. • Number of states that adopt JLC model legislation with regard to self-incrimination in mental health screening, assessment and treatment. 10

Access to education by youth in the juvenile justice system Goal Ensure that youth in the juvenile justice system have access to education and the opportunity to succeed. Issues and Needs In the late 1990s, in the wake of the Columbine shootings outside Denver, Colorado, most school districts in the United States promulgated rigid, arbitrary and mandatory school discipline policies that caught in their nets many students for whom the policies were never intended. Many students found themselves suspended, expelled or arrested for minor misbehavior. Juvenile Law Center led a national effort to be rational about student misbehavior. JLC helped organize the movement against mandatory zero tolerance policies that required suspension, expulsion or arrest for normative misbehavior. At the same time, JLC, with Education Law Center-PA, worked to ensure that youth in the juvenile and criminal justice systems received appropriate education. JLC’s 1996 lawsuit against local school districts and county jails in Pennsylvania, for example, led to improvement of education for youth of compulsory school age who were awaiting trial in criminal court. In 2002, JLC and ELC successfully sued to overturn a Pennsylvania law that prohibited Philadelphia delinquent youth from being in the public schools. Ensuring adequate education for delinquent youth is a part of JLC’s aftercare project in the MacArther Foundation’s Models for Change initiative in Pennsylvania. Our work with Models For Change has allowed us to create sustained attention to the way residential facilities in the juvenile justice system, and Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts, address credit transfer, vocational training, and school re-entry. Each year, thousands of youth enter juvenile detention and treatment facilities in Pennsylvania. All but a few eventually return to their schools and

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communities. Although many are still under Pennsylvania’s compulsory school age of 17, they find re-enrolling in school is particularly challenging. Court-involved youth are unwelcome at regular public schools, which have adopted policies and procedures to exclude them. Delinquent youth also have high rates of attrition from school, and those few who manage to complete their high school studies often earn a General Equivalency Degree (GED) rather than a high school diploma. The problem of re-entry and school drop-out is not limited to Pennsylvania, but is a national dilemma. Action Steps • Ensure that youth in juvenile justice placements in Pennsylvania receive appropriate education, for which they receive credit when they return to community schools. • Ensure that youth returning from delinquency placements have access to education, thereby building on the aftercare work of the Models For Change initiative in Pennsylvania. • Address inappropriate referrals to Pennsylvania juvenile courts of students with serious disabilities (such as autism), whose offenses are minor and an obvious reflection of their disabilities, by publishing manuals for non-lawyer advocates, families and attorneys. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Number of youth returning from juvenile justice placements whom JLC assists with school re-enrollment in Pennsylvania. • Number of youth who successfully re-enroll in school upon leaving juvenile justice placements as evidenced by having received a high school diploma or its equivalent or by continued school enrollment six months after probation ends. • Number of youth who receive a high school diploma or its equivalent while in juvenile justice placement. • Number of youth with serious disabilities whose cases are diverted from juvenile court, or who receive court interventions short of a finding of guilt for minor offenses that are obvious reflections of their disabilities.

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Access to counsel for youth in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems Goal Ensure that youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems have access to quality counsel at all stages of delinquency and dependency court proceedings. Issues and Needs Counsel for youth alert the court to factual issues, developmental considerations, service needs, and statutory and constitutional issues. Counsel act as both sword and shield, ensuring that youth get the services they need to become productive adults, and protecting them from harm. Youths’ lawyers promote fairness, ensure appropriate participation of youths in decisions that affect their lives, and build youths’ allegiance to the rule of law. On the delinquency side, assessments of indigent juvenile defense in over a dozen states have led to improved representation of youth, pointing reform in the right direction. On the dependency side, there is no constitutional right to counsel, and the field is more confused. Some states are looking to improve advocacy for youth, but they have not yet given youth a right to counsel-instead they have created discretionary systems of lay advocates, such as Court Appointed Special Advocates or Guardians ad Litem.

“ I can’t say enough good things about Juvenile Law Center. Juvenile law Center saved our lives. We felt like we were at the bottom, and had lost all hope. Juvenile Law Center helped us get through a difficult and painful situation with friendship, compassion and support.” ~ Mother of a JLC client who watched her daughter, an honor roll student, get handcuffed and taken away to a detention center for 90 days for an innocuous internet parody.

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Action Steps • Develop model legislation and policies on counsel for youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Rate current state statutes and policies against the models, which will be considered “benchmarks.” (See discussion of National Policy Center and Academic Advisory Board below in section on Major New Initiatives. • Challenge the unlawful waiver of the right to counsel in delinquency proceedings in appellate courts. • Advocate for adequate state funding of public defenders and other lawyers for children to reduce too-high caseloads that prevent them from providing quality representation to their child clients. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Number of states that adopt JLC model legislation or policy. • Number of favorable court rulings in challenges to waiver of counsel. • Number of states that increase funding for public defenders and other lawyers for children.

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Rational confidentiality and information sharing policies Goal Ensure that sensitive information about youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems is used and shared in ways that promote better outcomes for youth while protecting their rights and respecting their privacy concerns. Issues and Needs Issues with regard to minors’ rights to confidentiality, the sharing of sensitive information, and the expungement of records, affect every youth who becomes involved in the juvenile justice and/or child welfare systems. These systems collect and maintain records that contain sensitive, potentially damaging and often inaccurate information about youth and their families There is a great deal of misunderstanding of the laws that regulate the sharing of information, which results in both the under-sharing of information (and consequently missed opportunities for coordinated case management) as well as over-sharing of information (when information is shared and then used in a manner detrimental to the child.). Stakeholders often “blame” confidentiality laws for their failures to do integrated case management for youth who straddle multiple systems and call for the elimination of important protections for our clients’ records. Moreover, juvenile delinquency records can impede youths’ access to employment and education; we need to increase the number of juvenile delinquency records eligible for expungement and actually expunged. Finally, as described above in the section on mental health needs, youth risk self-incrimination and further prosecution unless adequate protections are in place in state statutes or court rules during screening, assessment and treatment in the juvenile justice system. Action Steps • Develop model legislation regarding expungement of juvenile court records. Rate current state statutes and policies against the models, which will be considered “benchmarks.” (See discussion of the National Policy Center and Academic Advisory Board below in section on Major New Initiatives.) • Increase expungement of juvenile delinquency records by recruiting pro bono attorneys nationally to take on cases. (See discussion below of Pro Bono Initiatives.) • Promote responsible information sharing for court-involved youth by publishing, with the Child Welfare League of America, the Models for Change Information Sharing Toolkit, and providing direct technical assistance to other Models for Change sites. • Provide technical assistance to Models for Change sites and other states on enacting legislation that protects youth from self-incrimination when undergoing screening, assessment or treatment for behavioral health problems, building on JLC’s success in passing such law in Pennsylvania. • Train juvenile justice and child welfare professionals in Pennsylvania on confidentiality and mandated abuse reporting laws. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Number of states that adopt JLC model legislation or policy. • Number of pro bono attorneys trained nationwide to handle expungements. • Number of Models for Change jurisdictions that apply the principles and guidelines of the Information Sharing Tool Kit to their information sharing projects.

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Special needs of girls in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems Goal Ensure that the juvenile justice and child welfare systems have the capacity to respond to the unique needs of adolescent girls. Issues and Needs Girls are the fastest growing population in the juvenile justice system, currently making up approximately 30% of all juvenile arrests. The juvenile justice system, which was designed for boys, often fails to provide girls with the services they need. Additionally, girls in the juvenile justice system face high rates of medical problems, including sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and drug and alcohol abuse. Juvenile Law Center has been a partner in the National Girls Health Screen Project with In Our Daughters’ Hands, directed by Leslie Acoca, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. For the past three years, JLC has been the fiscal agent for the project, which has been validating a health screen to change the standard of care in juvenile detention centers in the country. Our goal is to improve the quality of health care screening, assessment and services to girls who enter the juvenile justice system. (We expect that in future years the Girls Health Screen will also have utility in the child welfare system.) In the coming year, we will be completing the validation phase of the Girls Health Screen Project. JLC will thereafter support the principal investigator, Leslie Acoca, as she develops a National Girls Health and Justice Institute. The Institute will disseminate the Girls Health Screen, develop a user’s manual, conduct training, troubleshoot, and collect data. JLC will serve as the legal arm by writing and training on issues of consent, confidentiality, child abuse reporting, and other legal issues. Action Steps • Transition from being the grantee agency that manages dollars and foundation reports to a sub-contractor of a larger girls’ health project - the Girls Health and Justice Institute - that Leslie Acoca will manage. • Serve as the legal advisor to the Girls Health and Justice Institute on issues of consent, confidentiality, child abuse reporting, and as a link to the larger juvenile justice community. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Number of juvenile justice facilities that use the Girls Health Screen. • Number of states that require specialized health screening for delinquent girls. • Development of state and local responses to urgent and chronic health care needs of delinquent girls. • Creation of a national data base on health care needs of delinquent girls.

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Major New Project Initiatives

National Policy Center Goal Create an in-house policy arm to identify and promote child welfare and juvenile justice laws and policies that advance Juvenile Law Center’s mission. Description JLC employs multiple strategies - including publications, proposed legislation and regulations, lawsuits, and work through coalitions and task forces - to promote laws and policies that provide vulnerable children with the protection and services they need to become healthy and productive adults. JLC’s objective is to advance laws that are grounded in principles of adolescent development, promote fairness, prevent harm, and create opportunities. Through the establishment of a National Policy Center, JLC will add yet another strategy to its arsenal. Specifically, JLC will showcase model legislation and model policies that advance JLC’s strategic themes. We propose to develop a Juvenile Justice Reform Index and Child Welfare Reform Index that will rate states in terms of their alignment with JLC’s view of appropriate public policy. To further these model policies, JLC will develop or showcase model legislation addressing developing issues in child welfare and juvenile justice. The indices will also highlight ways in which legislation and other state policies take account of developmental research on adolescents as well as conform to applicable international laws and principles. This will be the first center of its kind in the country- no one with JLC’s experience and advocacy background has promulgated model policies. These policies, with state ratings and accompanying communications approaches, will lead to improvements in state policies, changes in practices, and better outcomes for youth. Local advocates will have models with which to compare their own state policies, as well as background material supporting JLC’s proposed approaches. Legislative staff and national organizations, such as the National Conference of State Legislatures, will have new tools with which to promote change. JLC’s policy center will inform the work of state and local foundations, as they sharpen their interest in improved child welfare and juvenile justice outcomes for youth. Action Steps • In the first year, compile state statutes and regulations in at least four areas - two in the child welfare system and two in the juvenile justice system - and rank these against our proposed model laws. • Develop a methodology of rating state policies against JLC models. • Publish model policies and ratings on JLC’s web site. • Develop and implement a communications strategy around announcements of model policies and state ratings. • Develop internal system to publish new model policies and ratings, and update existing ones. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Establishment of a rating system for JLC reform indices. • Number of states that adopt JLC model legislation or policy. • References to JLC reform indices in other media. 17

“ JLC will continue to focus on reforming the child welfare and juvenile justice systems for adolescents at the local, state and national levels.”

Academic Advisory Board Goal Establish an Academic Advisory Board to expand and enhance the use of research in JLC’s legal advocacy and review model policies for the National Policy Center. Description In recent years, JLC’s legal advocacy has been connected to research. We propose creating an Academic Advisory Board to strengthen that connection. The Academic Advisory Board will serve many objectives including: 1) linking JLC staff and Board to the latest research on adolescent development, health, education, juvenile justice, youth aging out of care, etc.- including through an annual briefing to the Board- so that our advocacy efforts will be stronger; 2) linking JLC to experts in international law and human rights; 3) convening a group of academics who can connect us to policy makers, potential clients, and media; 4) providing a pathway for advisory board members to become members of JLC’s governing board; 5) receiving feedback from leading scholars on proposed model policies for the National Policy Center; 6) enhancing the field, and as a by-product, JLC’s prestige and visibility by bringing together the country’s leading thinkers in JLC’s substantive areas of work and giving them the opportunity to learn from each other and share their work in a non-academic environment. Action Steps • Assemble the Academic Advisory Board, to be chaired by current JLC Board member and staffed by JLC Policy Director. • Convene an annual meeting of the Academic Advisory Board in conjunction with a JLC Board meeting, to share with JLC staff ideas as to how JLC’s work can be better shaped by the latest knowledge. • Offer an honorarium to a member of the Academic Advisory Board each year to present a paper in a public forum on issues relevant to our work. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Establishment of an Academic Advisory Board. • Academic Advisory Board members present papers on issues related to JLC’s mission.

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National Back-up and Training Center Goal Establish a formal center to provide assistance and training to attorneys who represent children in dependency and delinquency court proceedings. Description Attorneys around the country regularly seek our help for interesting and difficult cases. Most of our work thus far has been in support of challenges to juvenile justice /criminal justice laws, policies and practices. We have also assisted in Pennsylvania cases of foster youth who seek housing help while they attend college. JLC will provide back-up services to lawyers for children, by assisting in more appeals and providing more amicus assistance on key cases. Action Steps See Action Steps in section above on Developmentally Appropriate Juvenile and Criminal Justice Policies. • Become an accredited Continuing Legal Education (CLE) provider. • Convert current training curricula into web-based training programs. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Number of training programs created and accredited for CLE credits. • Number of web-based training programs. Also, see Outcome Measurements in section above on Developmentally Appropriate Juvenile and Criminal Justice Policies.

“ When you’re trying to be smart about what you do, you always look for opportunities for public and private partnerships. You look for the strongest people you can find out there, the strongest organizations. And what you’re going to find in this area is the Juvenile Law Center.” ~Shay Bilchik, Director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform and Systems Integration at Georgetown Public Policy Institute.

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Pro Bono Initiative Goal Engage lawyers to do pro bono work to advance Juvenile Law Center’s mission and activities. Description Pro bono work is the delivery of free legal services to persons of limited means, as well as work on behalf of the charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental and educational organizations that serve them. Engaging lawyers to do pro bono work has many virtues. It creates champions for JLC’s issues, builds an infrastructure of people with skills to assist youth, and builds a potential donor base. The challenges include identifying concrete, discrete legal issues for attorneys to undertake, as ideal pro bono projects are time-limited (i.e., have clear entry and exit points), transactional, can be done at any time, and have clear outcomes. Additional challenges include developing JLC’s staff capacity to recruit, train, and supervise pro bono attorneys. In 2007 and 2008, Philadelphia area law firms responded to several ad hoc pro bono requests from JLC. These included representing a family who had religious objections to a school district’s drug testing policy (Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin); taking on cases of uncounseled youth in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll; Galasso, Kimler & Muir); and assisting with incorporation of a non-profit to house the Girls Health Screen project (Dechert). JLC is in discussions with , Piper around pro bono projects on expungement and Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP) issues. Traditionally, pro bono work has meant recruiting private lawyers to work on discreet cases and appeals. In recent years law firms also have partnered with nonprofit organizations and other organizations to develop “signature projects” that offer innovative solutions to vexing social problems and help the most vulnerable members of our society. JLC aims to undertake a major pro bono initiative in 2008-2011 by partnering with a law firm on a “signature project.” Action Steps • Recruit law firms to provide assistance on specific cases and projects on an as-needed basis. • Identify and collaborate with a national law firm(s) on a “signature project” that contains the following elements: • Provides high-quality legal representation to low-income children in the juvenile justice system; • identifies and addresses an important juvenile justice policy issue affecting children and families; • Provides attorneys, particularly more junior attorneys, with hands-on opportunities to develop their legal skills; and • Increases the target law firm’s pro bono involvement. Outcome Measurement Juvenile Law Center will monitor the impact of its work by tracking a number of measures, including the following: • Number of pro bono attorneys providing assistance to JLC on specific cases or projects. • Establishment of a collaborative with private law firm on “signature project.”

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Measuring Success

Juvenile Law Center has adopted several methods of monitoring our work. The approaches to measuring outcomes that are summarized below collectively give JLC a robust sense of whether it is meeting its substantive and organizational goals. • The staff meets bi-weekly and reviews a portion of our strategic plan at every staff meeting. Is JLC’s logic model still intact? What are the prospects for success? What are the barriers? JLC is constantly refining its approaches. • The Board meets thrice yearly, at which time the staff reports on progress towards meeting the substantive goals of the strategic plan. Staff and Board members also report on progress towards meeting organizational goals, which are easily measured (e.g., goals related to hiring or financial development). Staff also reports monthly to the Board’s Executive Committee. As part of the approval of the 2009-2011 strategic plan, the Board also committed to undertaking a mid-course progress review. • Historically, JLC has used many informal feedback loops which work together and separately to let JLC know whether its work is effective. The self-evaluation process requires JLC to test its assumptions constantly about whether its approaches are logically leading to reducing harms to youth, promoting fairness in the way youth are treated, and increasing their opportunities to succeed. JLC uses:

“ Juvenile Law Center has demonstrated a consistent standard of excellence on some of the most novel and challenging legal issues of our times. Their commitment to the protection of children’s rights and to the rule of law reminds us all of what can and should be done, even when faced by seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They are an impressive organization to work with and have been an indispensable ally. I am glad to see they have received this much deserved recognition.” ~Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler, United States Navy Office of Military Commissions and Chief Counsel to Omar Khadr, the youngest person ever detained at Guantanamo at the age of 15.

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“ Juvenile Law Center and our colleagues have a history of anticipating the future and creating it. We have helped turn nascent goals into ideas that are in wide currency around the country. “

• Consumer feedback • We hear directly from young clients and their families, who have opinions about the quality of representation. JLC also has interns who are foster youth and receives advice from youth in the juvenile justice system. • We hear directly from consumers, such as lawyers trained by JLC, through posttraining evaluations and indirect measures, such as repeat requests for training. • We hear from non-profit juvenile justice agencies, who inform JLC, for example, as to whether barriers to health care and education remain or have been removed. • Data • JLC measures results by reviewing data, such as those on institutional populations (in cases involving institutional overcrowding), the number of youth who are represented by counsel (in jurisdictions in which JLC has worked to increase representation), or the number of days it takes foster youth to be admitted to school when they change school districts (through data that JLC’s education-foster care project has prompted the Pennsylvania Department of Education to collect). • JLC examines data provided by the state as a result of JLC’s litigation, e.g., regarding health care screens and treatment for children in delinquency placements in Pennsylvania, or the number of delinquent youth who are represented by counsel. • Policies and practices • JLC notes changes in state regulations, statutes and case law. • JLC tracks instances in which JLC has, publicly or “off the record,” prevented implementation of harmful policies or practices. • JLC tracks the rulings - favorable or unfavorable rulings - in cases we have brought, including cases for which we have written amici briefs. JLC also has adopted an approach to outcome measurement that the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) and other foundations use. Foundations, like public interest law firms (and unlike, for example, pediatricians in neo-natal units) are some steps removed from outcomes that are measured through child well-being indices. Thus, AECF’s use of impact, influence and leverage is apt. JLC thinks of outcomes in terms of impact (on individual children and families); influence (the changes in policy and practice we create that will have an impact on children’s lives); and leverage (getting other advocates, lawyers, parents, foundations, etc. to devote time and dollars to JLC’s goals). This approach reflects the reality of an advocacy organization-there are multiple steps (and many allies) between the work JLC does and direct outcomes for youth. This framework also helps JLC think creatively about the geographic mix of its work. For example, in Philadelphia, JLC will have impact, influence and leverage. JLC represents some individual children and has a direct impact on their lives; JLC’s litigation, as another example, has an immediate impact on thousands of children who would otherwise be excluded from school. Litigation can also be considered as influence, since it changes policies and practices. Leverage happens when other advocates join JLC’s campaigns and promote JLC’s issues. The farther away JLC gets from Philadelphia, the less direct impact it has, because JLC does little direct service outside of the city and state. On the other hand, outside of Philadelphia (and Pennsylvania), JLC’s influence and leverage is large.

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Juvenile Law Center’s Vision for 2018

While this strategic plan has concrete goals and outcomes, it is also aspirational. The next three years are a down payment on a vision of the future. It is a vision of better outcomes for foster youth and youth involved with the justice system. It is a vision of a changing climate in the United States that will enable advocates and policy makers to create better outcomes for those youth. And it is a vision of Juvenile Law Center’s role in getting from here to there. This is what Juvenile Law Center hopes to see as a result of our work and the work of others by 2018: • The needs of adolescents in our child welfare and juvenile justice systems will be addressed by systems that are grounded in principles of adolescent development and other relevant research. There will be more attention to human rights and international law-including the possibility that the U.S. will have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child-and the U.S. and will further conform its policies and practices to more advanced developments in international law. Fewer youth will be incarcerated or transferred to adult court. Foster youth in need of continued support will be in care beyond the age of 18. There will be changes in federal law that will support both trends; there will be corresponding changes in state laws in all fifty states. • More states will have laws and policies that support foster youth past the age of 18; there will be an increase in supportive housing, in career and technical education, and in assistance for higher education. States will make it easier for foster youth to change residence without having to change schools; and if they do have to change schools, state policies will ensure that foster youth receive credit for the work they have done and ensure timely reenrollment. • More states will have laws that give a preference for keeping youth in the juvenile justice system, even for serious offenses. State juvenile justice systems will have the capacity to protect the public, hold youth accountable and give youths the skills they need to be productive adults. State laws governing adult sentencing of juveniles will provide for mitigation based on age, and will ensure that adult sentences for juveniles are reviewed periodically. • More states will have systems in place for diverting youth with mental health problems from the juvenile justice system. • States will guarantee youths’ right to counsel-this right will extend to youth in the justice system, from arrest to the time the case is closed, and to adolescents in the child welfare system. More state laws will balance the need to share information with the need to protect confidentiality and honor privacy. Youth will not be forced to incriminate themselves to receive mental health screening, assessment or treatment. State laws will increase opportunities for delinquent youth to have records expunged so they can have a fresh start in life. • Fewer foster youth will enter the juvenile justice system, while more child welfare services will be available to delinquent youth. • All states will require that girls who are arrested receive a state-of-the-art physical and behavioral health screen that identifies and prioritizes their health care needs. • States will have policies and practices that result in fewer students being referred to the juvenile justice system and increase access of delinquent youth to education, including career and technical education. • Domestic law will be shaped by commonly accepted principles of human rights that are embedded in U.S. constitutional law, international conventions, and treaties.

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Juvenile Law Center Strategic Planning Committee, 2008 Ann Rosewater, Chair Hon. John L. Braxton Jonathan W. Cuneo, Esq. Vernon L. Francis, Esq. Lynn Rzonca, Esq. Daniel Segal, Esq. Larry Steinberg, Ph.D.

About the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions On April 10, 2008, Juvenile Law Center was one of eight organizations in six countries to receive the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. The award honors non-profit organizations that have made an extraordinary impact in their fields and are helping to address some of the world’s most challenging problems.

“From its founding, the MacArthur Foundation has sought out people and organizations that have the creativity, energy and breadth of vision to change the world for the better. These imaginative and influential small organizations have an impact altogether disproportionate to their size. They are addressing problems and injustices, finding fresh solutions, and proving themselves as leaders and innovators.” - MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton announcing the 2008 awardees.

Advancing the rights and well-being of children in jeopardy

Juvenile Law Center The Philadelphia Building 1315 Walnut Street, 4th Floor Philadelphia, Pa 19107 215.625.0551 / 800.875.8887 215.625.2808 fax www.JLC.org