Summary of the 2008 KIDS COUNT Essay on Juvenile Justice Reform Now Available
August 18, 2008 – A summary version of the 2008 KIDS COUNT essay, A Road Map for Juvenile Justice, presents the six pervasive challenges raised in the essay that face our nation’s juvenile justice systems today. It highlights key facts and data, and offers promising solutions for approaches that have been proven to improve outcomes for youth, families, taxpayers and communities.

Report on Juveniles Detained in RI Available
August 6, 2008 - There was a 10% decrease in juvenile detentions in 2007 according to the Rhode Island Justice Commission's report, Juvenile Detention Data 2007. The report details the nature of detentions and characteristics of juveniles detained in Rhode Island. The report focuses on juveniles securely and non-securely detained, not juveniles that may have been released at the scene, transported home, brought directly to the RI Training School or to Court. Also note that there report captures only the most serious offense for which the youth was detained.

RI Supreme Court Rules on Family Court's jurisdiction over 'gap kids'
July 21, 2008 - The Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled on July 10, 2008 that the state Family Court has initial jurisdiction over the case of a 17-year-old Barrington youth facing a murder charge and another youth who was charged as an adult during a brief change in the state law. The high court upheld a Superior Court judge's decision and rejected the argument of the Attorney General in ruling that the indictments of these youth should be held in abeyance until the Family Court holds a hearing and decides whether it will waive its jurisdiction over them.

In the summer and fall of 2007, Rhode Island KIDS COUNT staff worked extensively to get the law reversed that resulted in 17-year-olds being housed at the Rhode Island Adult Correction Institutions. On Tuesday, October 30, 2007, the Rhode Island General Assembly voted to repeal the law that was enacted that treated 17 year-olds as adults. The July 10, 2008 ruling means that the approximately 70 remaining youth who were charged as adults during the 4 month "gap period" last year will have their cases returned to the Family Court from the adult court system.

2008 Report on Key National Indicators of Child Well-Being Available Online
July 14, 2008 - The newly released America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008 profiles the status of the nation's children and youth, presenting up-to-date federal statistics on a variety of issues in one convenient reference. According to the report, math and reading scores of fourth and eighth graders have increased, but also shows that the teen birth rate and the proportion of infants born at low birthweight have also risen.

New Study Documents Effects of Adult Court Transfer Law Reform
July 7, 2008 - Study finds that keeping youth out of adult courts is better for kids and communities. The report, Changing Course: A Review of the First Two Years of Drug Transfer Reform in Illinois, also found that following the repeal of an automatic drug transfer law in Illinois, the number of youth automatically sent to adult courts was lowered by two-thirds with no detrimental impact on public safety and no increase in juvenile court caseloads or waivers to adult courtrooms.

Study Examines Recent Trends in Preteen Crime
June 2008 - Are juvenile offenders getting younger? A new Chapin Hall analysis explores this question by examining data collected by law enforcement agencies across the country. The study found that the age profile of juvenile offenders has not changed substantially in 25 years. Crime rates among children under age 13 have generally followed the same crime patterns exhibited among older youth. Read the report, Arresting Children: Examining Recent Trends in Preteen Crime, by Jeffrey A. Butts and Howard N. Snyder.

2008 KIDS COUNT Data Book: A Roadmap for Juvenile Justice Reform
June 12, 2008 - The essay in the 19th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book outlines key action steps and model programs with the potential to change the reality and prospects for the nearly 100,000 youth confined in U.S. juvenile facilities on any given night. According to the report, in 2006 the rate of detained and committed youth in custody in RI was lower than the national rate. In 2006, the ratio of youth of color to White youth in custody in Rhode Island was worse than the U.S. ratio.

RI ranks 21st among the states for overall child well-being in the 19th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, a national and state-by-state profile of the well-being of America’s children that ranks states on 10 key measures and provides data on the economic, health, education, and social conditions of America’s children and families. View the article in the Providence Journal.

2008 Factbook: Juvenile Justice in Rhode Island
April 7, 2008 - Rhode Island KIDS COUNT's annual publication on the well-being of children and families in RI, the 2008 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook includes two juvenile justice indicators: Juveniles at the Training School and Juveniles Referred to Family Court. The Factbook reports on 62 indicators of child well-being across five subjects: Family and Community, Economic Well-Being, Health, Safety, and Education.