The US juvenile justice system aimed to rehabilitate youthful offenders and protect them from destructive punishments. The system was created to focus on adolescents and children, by viewing them as people who needed assistance, rather than viewing them based on the offenses that took them to courts. Therefore, judges acted in the children's best interest by sending offenders to reformatory or training schools. However, despite making tremendous steps in achieving justice for children, the US Juvenile justice system is faced with numerous challenges that affect its effectiveness in offering justice to children. Drug policies, specialty courts, technology, mental illness, communicable diseases, and overcrowding are some problems that affect the US juvenile justice system (Smith, 2013). Connectedly, this paper discusses the challenges that the juvenile justice system faces, as well as the future challenges that the system may face due to the increasing cases of child neglect and abuse.
Mental health is a critical problem faced by juvenile justice systems in the 21st century. Mental disorders have increased among the youths over recent years. More than 2 million young adults, children, and youths come are exposed to the juvenile justice system every year (Smith, 2013). More than 70% of this population is diagnosed with a specific mental disorder (Smith, 2013). Additionally, 25% of the population are facing severe emotional issues. However, instead of being helped through community settings, the youths are exposed to the juvenile justice system. Justice systems affect the screening and treatment of this population due to the inadequate resources and facilities for handling mental health youths. The juvenile justice system lacks referrals for the treatment of the mental disorders detected in the children. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, only a small number of children can access mental health treatment in the juvenile justice system. OJJDP (2017) also reports that in California, only 6% of mentally ill youths in juvenile facilities were referred for treatment in 2014. Even though most facilities are equipped with psychiatric gear, severe conditions and emergencies are rarely addressed in the facilities, with youths facing numerous challenges before accessing treatment.
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The youths' mental stability is also affected by the confinement or detention used in the juvenile justice system. Correctional facilities can impact the mental status of youths due to the issues of overcrowding and distress caused by family separation. The lack of available treatment services may also lead to increased susceptibility to mental illness among the youths in juvenile justice systems.
In solving mental illness among young people in the juvenile justice system, the government must adopt care systems for the mentally ill juveniles. Comprehensive community-based care services must also be established rather than using juvenile systems for dealing with youths who are mentally ill (Smith, 2013). Through community-based approaches, the system can understand the problems faced by mentally ill youths and establish the best ways to help them out of their conditions. Sustained funding and strong interagency collaboration can also be used in addressing this problem among children and youths.
The second problem facing the juvenile justice system is indigent defense, whereby there is an inadequate number of defense lawyers specialized in child welfare. The juvenile justice system is widely varied from the adult justice system. Juvenile judges and defenders play a significant role in the protection of children's interests at all stages. Arrest, detention, proceedings, disposition, adjudication, and post-dispositional matters depend heavily on the skills that defense attorneys have for the juvenile justice system. In ensuring effective in their roles, defense attorneys must have specific skills that include community-based programs for the youths and being familiar with adolescent and child development. Juvenile defenders must also be able to enlist their clients without compromising the client-attorney relationship (Smith, 2013). Currently, children are serviced by general lawyers who have huge knowledge in adult cases; but limited knowledge on the juvenile justice system. Public defenders and other defense attorneys are therefore limited in the representation of children due to the lack of background information. Hence this problem has made many children go to correctional facilities in cases that would have taken a different shape.
In solving this challenge, the government must promote the need for more juvenile attorneys. Juvenile defense attorneys play a crucial role in shielding children from unfair actions. Therefore, the absence of adequate defense attorneys makes the juvenile justice system ineffective (Smith, 2013). Adequate judges and lawyers' training will make the juvenile justice system more effective in dealing with the increasing number of offenses by children and youths. Law training institutions should, therefore, put more emphasis on training specialized education for the juvenile justice system.
The 21st-century juvenile system is also faced with the challenge of youth-specific offenses. Most children are in the correctional facilities for doing things that are prohibited within their age group. Being under 18 makes many youths susceptible to crimes that are legal among adult counterparts. "Status offenses" in the US are a major cause of the increasing number of children in correctional facilities (Smith, 2013). The status offenses include; running away, violations of underage liquor laws, and truancy offenses. In 2009, more than 140,000 cases were arraigned in juvenile courts, with 60% of the cases finding children guilty of status offenses (Smith, 2013). With these high figures of children in correctional facilities, it is evident that most of them are guilty of the challenge of status offenses.
Solving the challenge of status offenses demands reflection on the familial, systemic, and community issues. The government must, therefore, investigate these issues by implementing family-based interventions that prevent the risk of children being presented in juvenile justice systems (Smith, 2013). The family-based interventions and courts will cut the costs involved in juvenile justice cases and provide lasting and meaningful support for families and children.
There is a huge correlation between the increasing child neglect and abuse cases and the probability of children being accused in juvenile justice systems. The number of neglected and abused children has been on the rise in the US, with more than 700,000 children being abused every year (Administration for Children and Families, 2020). According to the Administration for Children and Families, the number of children facing maltreatment has been on the rise since 2015. More than 1/7 of children in the US have faced neglect or abuse in their life with psychological abuse and sexual abuse being the most common forms of child abuse. In 2017, 1710 children died from neglect, and in 2018, the number increased to 1770.
Increased neglect and abuse cases lead to increased juvenile cases as neglected and abused children are more likely to commit offenses. The Administration for Children and Families reports that in 2018, about 3,534,000 children were subject to investigation for offenses. Out of this number, 678,000 had experienced mistreatment or neglect in their life Administration for Children and Families, (2020). The organ also reports that 60.8% of the figure were neglected, 7.0% sexually abused, and 10.7% physically abused Administration for Children and Families (2020). From these statistics, it is evident that child abuse and neglect affect children's mental stability, increasing their chances of indulging in offenses. Neglected children usually form various behaviors that increase their probability of being in a juvenile justice system. For instance, neglected children have antisocial behavior, which includes violence to adult crime. When children are abused at young ages, they become violent and irresponsible. The children embrace these behaviors and become violent people in adulthood (The National Bureau of Economic Research, 2020). The children are more likely to break laws. Therefore the increasing numbers of neglect and abuse cases lead to increased crimes among children. Therefore, the juvenile justice system must be ready for more juvenile cases due to the increasing number of child neglect and abuse in the US.
Overcrowding is a future problem that will affect the US juvenile system in the future. With the increasing trends of child neglect and indulgence in crimes, children are more likely to indulge in crimes, thus increasing their number in correctional facilities. Community reentry is also a crucial problem that will affect the juvenile justice system in the future due to the stigma and isolation involved with children who have indulged in criminal activities. Technology is also a huge problem that will affect the US juvenile system. With the increasing technological advancements, children could easily be guilty of small offenses due to the existing privacy and security policies. For instance, content sharing is a sensitive area that most children don't understand. Social media is also an avenue that could lead to increased offenses among children, thus affecting the juvenile justice system.
In conclusion, the 21st juvenile system is faced with various challenges. Mental illness and means of dealing with mentally ill children is a huge challenge for the juvenile justice system. The juvenile justice system is also affected by the limited number of specialized defense attorneys. Status offenses have also affected the juvenile justice system in the 21st century. Increased cases of child neglect increase the chances of children indulging in criminal activities. The juvenile justice system will, in the future, be affected by challenges due to technology, overcrowding, and community reentry policies.
References
Administration for Children and Families, (2020). Child Abuse, Neglect data Released. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/media/press/2020/child-abuse-neglect-data-released#:~:text=Quick%20Facts,the%20first%20time%20since%202015.&text=victims%20of%20maltreatment-,60.8%20percent%20of%20victims%20were%20neglected%2C%2010.7%20percent%20were%20physically,7.0%20percent%20were%20sexually%20abused.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, (2017). Intersection between Mental Health and Juvenile Justice System. Literature Review: Model Programs Guide. https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Intersection-Mental-Health-Juvenile-Justice.pdf
Smith, H. (2013). Problems and Solutions in Juvenile Justice. Resource Center Partnership: Models for Change. https://www.juvjustice.org/sites/default/files/resource-files/FINAL%20RCP%20Problems%20%20Solutions_08%2013%2013.pdf
The National Bureau of Economic Research, (2020). Does Child Abuse Cause Crime? https://www.nber.org/digest/jan07/w12171.html
