This article is reprinted here  with permission of the

NCCD Center for Girls and Young Women website.

 

Girls Do Matter

Our challenge to effectively meet the needs

of girls and ensure public safety

Urgency to Act

The increasing rates of girls entering the justice system

and the complexity of the issues that impact the lives of

young women, underscore the urgency and our obligation

to advocate for meaningful reform. Despite research and

evidence documenting gender differences in offending and

pathways to delinquency, girls have been considered a low

priority. Girls continue to be inappropriately placed in

facilities and programs designed for boys or that emphasize

razor wire over treatment. Consistently missing the mark,

there is an epidemic of programs that are ill equipped to

effectively address girls’ needs and tragically where girls are

further victimized or traumatized.

Costs to the Girls and to Society

Our failure to effectively address the needs of girls has

created a major public health and social welfare concern

with severe short and long-term consequences. Young girls

who could have their lives turned around wind up in illconceived

lock-up facilities costing an average of $50,000

annually per girl. Ineffective intervention to address the

needs of justice-involved girls during adolescence also

predicts a host of problems in adulthood including poor

physical and mental health, substance dependence, and future

arrests and incarceration.1 These girls are at a high risk of

future domestic violence and other violent relationships,

dysfunctional parenting and losing custody of their children.

In general, if appropriate prevention and intervention services

are not available, these girls will heavily utilize public health

and social welfare services in adulthood. 2

The Numbers

Nationally, there were 455, 993 girls (28% of total under 18) processed

through the court system. From here they could be released, put on

probation, detained, incarcerated, or transferred to adult court. 3

Latoya is fifteen and nine months pregnant. She has had

no prenatal care. She complains of chronic lower back pain.

A visit to her “cell” reveals that at nine months pregnant she

sleeps on a concrete slab with a plastic mattress that

is about an inch thick. She was charged withrunning away

from foster care, prostitution and trespassing. When she

violated her court order by missing school, she was placed in a

residential lock-up facility. Latoya has lived in12 foster homes

since about age three. She was removed from her biological mother as

a result of abuse. She never met her father.She ran away from her

first foster home after her foster father sexually abused her. After

that she never felt safe in other foster homes.With nowhere else

to go, she ran to the streets.She has lived on the streets “on and off ”

since about age 10. She says she turned to prostitution to get

food and shelter. Her greatest fear is that her baby will be taken

from her at the hospital. She dreams of finishing school

and getting a job to support her baby.

- Excerpt from NCCD Research

Interview, 2006

Data combines Hispanic and White youth into one category

NCCD Center for Girls and Young Women

Why Girls in Juvenile Justice need our immediate attention:

• Girls are the fastest growing segment of the juvenile justice population. Today, girls represent

approximately 30% of arrests and 15% of incarcerations.

• Girls enter the system at younger ages than boys. Almost half (42%) of girls who are incarcerated are 15

years old or younger.

• Girls present with higher rates of serious mental health conditions including post traumatic stress

disorder, psychiatric disorders4, attempts of self harm and suicide.5 It is estimated that 10% of

incarcerated girls are pregnant and that 30% have children.

• The juvenile justice system’s response is punitive to girls’ acting out behavior and results in incarceration

for less serious offenses than boys.

• The American Bar Report found that the practice of

“bootstrapping,” charging girls with a delinquent

offense for violation of a court order, is applied

disproportionately to girls and results in harsh and

inequitable treatment especially of girls charged with

status offenses (running away, curfew violations, etc).

Although girls’ rates of recidivism are lower than those

of boys, the use of contempt proceedings and probation

and parole violations make it more likely that, without

committing a crime, girls will return to detention or a

residential commitment program.6

• Girls pick up more charges inside institutions that are ill

equipped to meet their needs and thus, are “fast

tracked” deeper into the system.

• While the rates of abuse for girls outside facilities are

higher than 50%, the rates of abuse for girls inside

facilities is unacceptable and demands immediate

correction. The US Justice Department has sued nine

states and two territories alleging abuse, inadequate

mental and medical care and dangerous use of

restraints.

• The level of resources allocated for gender-specific

services is significantly less than the proportion of girls

in the system.

• Professionals at all levels are frequently frustrated with

the lack of information and training in best practices for

girls.

The NCCD Center for Girls and Young Women

We have failed our girls in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. More than reform is needed and we need to acknowledge that it is time to create and support programs that take into account the unique needsof girls and young women. The vision of the NCCD Center for Girls and Young Women is to: correct themisconceptions about girls in the system; equip staff with effective gender responsive interventions; provideservices and responses that meet the true needs of girls, and in turn, improve public safety; educate policy makersand administrators with research-based best practices and information; make girls safe and not further victimized inside facilities; ensure that girls receive fair treatment; and make sure that our communities provide a continuumof services for girls at risk. For more information about the Center visit www.justiceforallgirls.