Abuse or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can significantly alter the course of a child’s life and lead to severe problems. Trauma of any kind can leave an indelible mark on a person’s psyche. With treatment and support for social services, children may adopt unhealthy behaviors due to a shortage of coping mechanisms.

Many adults who struggle with drugs and alcohol or have run-ins with the law have a history of trauma stemming from physical and sexual abuse. In an attempt to escape one’s symptoms, turning to mind-altering substances appears to be a logical choice. Illicit drug use can lead to legal problems for young people. Some will even commit burglaries or theft in order to afford their drugs, which can be another path to the juvenile or criminal justice system.

What’s more, young people who suffer at the hands of abusive parents can find their way into legal troubles in some unexpected ways. Running away from home to escape violence can precipitate arrests, as can fighting back against one’s abuser.

Child Abuse Leads to Incarceration

Experiencing abuse in the home appears to be a common precursor to involvement with the justice system. Janelle Hawes, Ph.D. and Jerry Flores, Ph.D. conducted interviews with 33 girls at a juvenile detention center in southern California that supports the above statement, according to the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange. They found that abuse played a role in these young girls’ first involvement with the juvenile justice system.

The researchers discovered that parents or guardians abused 14 of the girls, the article reports. Some of the girls stated that fighting back against their oppressors resulted in arrests and detention. Others were arrested for running away from home to escape further abuse. Another path to the juvenile justice system was reporting their abuse to institutional actors like police and social workers. Below you will find a few examples of these types of instances:

“I love my mom, my mom used to beat the f-lip out of me, like crap out of me and one day I pulled a knife on her and I told her to stop and they put me in a damn mental institution,” said Debby, 14.

Aracely, 19, first got involved in the juvenile justice system after reporting her abuse to a criminal justice officer at school, according to the article. The officer took her to talk to the father (her abuser) and then decided that Aracely actions were tantamount to running away and arrested her. She said:

“… I had went to school, ’cause um, I was scared of going back home. I didn’t wanna go back home with my dad [because of abuse] … I was like, oh I don’t wanna go with my dad, like, I don’t really wanna go with him and then they’re like ‘we’re gonna talk to your dad’ and they came back, they came back into the room and they told me to get up and put my hands behind my back and that’s when I got arrested.”

Annabelle, 17, had a similar experience to Arcely. Escaping the abuse meant running away which lead to arrests. “Me and my father have never been close. Um, and I would always — I felt left out so I’d always go out there on the streets. I would run away a lot and then my father would kick me out. He would call the cops and say that I ran away and I started getting in trouble with the cops.”

Once a young person gets into the criminal or juvenile justice systems, they are far more likely to have run-ins with the police in the future. Research shows that young people need resources, support, and therapy, not juvenile detention. Running away from abuse should not be a crime or the impetus for juvenile detention.

California Juvenile Justice Attorney

Please contact The Law Offices of Katie Walsh for a free, confidential consultation. We can help you determine if we can assist you with your son’s or daughter’s legal or school troubles. As a former prosecutor, attorney Walsh is uniquely equipped to advocate for the needs of your family and help obtain the best possible outcome in your child’s case. (714) 351-0178.

If you have been keeping up on the news related to the American opioid addiction epidemic plaguing the United States, then you are likely aware of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. The new legislation – recently signed into law by the current administration – aims to address several aspects of the public health crisis we face. The SUPPORT Act isn’t just one bill; it is instead a package of measures each specific to one point of the issue or another; seventy unique bills in total

Some of the SUPPORT Act’s more notable features include channeling more funds to expand access to addiction treatment, prevent overprescribing, and training law enforcement to be more effective at intercepting fentanyl shipments. Other provisions involve improving care and support for substance-exposed babies and their mothers and expanding an existing program to train more first responders to carry and use the overdose reversal drug Narcan.

Those keeping themselves apprised of news relating to the epidemic know that there isn’t a demographic who has been untouched by the scourge of opioid use. Sadly, for a significant number of teenagers and young adults, many of whom come from dysfunctional homes, support is a scarce and they are in the grips of addiction. Moreover, like adults, young people face the risk of arrest and spending time in juvenile detention facilities.

The At-Risk Youth Medicaid Protection Act

Upon release from detention, young people often lack the support necessary to foster lasting recovery. Without assistance, the likelihood of recidivism is exceedingly high. What’s more, those same young people find that they have lost Medicaid as a result of their arrest and conviction, and no longer have a means of covering the cost of physical and mental healthcare professionals.

The At-Risk Youth Medicaid Protection Act, reintroduced by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), orders state Medicaid programs to suspend, not terminate, a juvenile’s coverage when he or she is in custody. Congressman Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) led an effort in the House of Representatives to include the bill in the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, ensuring that children who serve time in the juvenile justice system continue to receive health care coverage and treatments during and after their release from custody. Cárdenas writes:

“The At-Risk Youth Medicaid Protection Act will keep young American Medicaid recipients from being permanently kicked off their healthcare if they come into contact with the criminal justice system. Right now, these young people suffer greatly when they return home to find they can no longer see their doctor, especially if they are recovering from addiction. This law will end this practice, which will help the children, their families and the communities where they live.”

Orange County Juvenile Defense Attorney

If your son or daughter is facing legal trouble in California, please reach out to The Law Offices of Katie Walsh. Juvenile defense attorney Walsh has a proven record of advocating for families who find themselves in the hardest and most vulnerable situations. Call now for a free, confidential consultation, (714) 351-0178.

The new California state budget allocates $4 million toward preventing the unnecessary arrests of foster children, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. The move from lawmakers came about after the newspaper exposed a severe issue regarding the handling foster kids who act up.

Historically, when foster children staying in one of the many California shelters caused a ruckus, supervisors would call the authorities. A minor infraction could quickly land a child in a juvenile detention facility for assault and vandalism; the practice starts a vicious cycle of young people going in-and-out of the juvenile justice system, and then the adult criminal justice system later in life.

It is vital to remember that the majority of youngsters in foster care have had complicated lives. Such youngsters have been witness to all-the-wrong-things from a very young age; ostensibly, they are not equipped to handle challenging situations in a healthy manner. One could argue that acting up is expected among young people whose early life is comprised of one traumatic event after another. Fortunately, there are ways of disciplining children that don’t involve detention; utilizing such methods could teach adolescents valuable life lessons and coping skills.

De-Escalation and Adolescent Development Training

The $4 million will be used for:

• Foster youth support services,
• De-escalation training, and
• Adolescent development training for law enforcement and staff at residential facilities.

This week, legislation is expected to pass that would order California children’s shelters and group homes to only call law enforcement in an emergency, according to the article. Such facilities should rely on other forms of intervention before turning to the police as a means of disciplining a child. Maria Ramiu, a senior staff attorney with the Youth Law Center in San Francisco, says the new law encouraging shelters and group homes to rely on law enforcement less, would be a significant “change in philosophy.”

Assembly Bill (AB) 2043, introduced by state Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula (D), curbs over-reliance on law enforcement to solve foster care behavioral concerns, The Chronicle of Social Change reports. The bill also helps foster kids reach out for help when they find themselves in unsafe situations in foster homes by creating a statewide hotline for foster youth and their caregivers to contact a mobile crisis-team at any time.

“We want [foster youth and caregivers] to feel supported, to have access to immediate support in their homes,” said Diana Boyer, senior policy analyst for the County Welfare Directors Association of California. “We’re bringing the services to them, as opposed to them going to services.”

A mobile crisis team with training in how to address the concerns of young people, many of which have mental health problems, could significantly reduce the need to rely on law enforcement. Mental health, and young people acting out because of such conditions, is not a problem that can be arrested away.

Juvenile Defense Attorney

The Law Offices of Katie Walsh specialize in juvenile law. If your son or daughter is facing criminal charges or school expulsion, Attorney Walsh can advocate for you and your family in several ways. Please contact our office for a free consultation.

California Assemblymember Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Sr. is requesting $100 million to assist young people who find themselves on the wrong side of the Law. The money will support the Youth Reinvestment Fund, a proposal that would specifically help vulnerable youth populations, including minorities, children with disabilities, girls, LGBTQ youth, and foster children, according to a press release. Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer points to research indicating that diversion and mentoring programs produced $3.36 of benefits for every dollar spent, reducing crime and saving taxpayers money.

“Research has shown that non-detention alternatives, particularly for low-level offenses, are more appropriate responses to curb delinquent behavior, avoiding pushing youth deeper into the juvenile justice system, writes Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer. “Most importantly, communities that have intentional diversion programs show improved outcomes for youth and public safety.”

The proposal relies on trauma-informed, community and health-based interventions, instead of incarceration. Last week, Youth Reinvestment Fund advocates joined forces in Sacramento to lobby for the funds which they believe will help thousands of at-risk youths avoid detention, The Chronicles for Social Change reports. Supporters hope for a different outcome than last year when a similar version fell short.

Youth Reinvestment Fund

Jones-Sawyer, who represents South Los Angeles, Florence-Firestone, Walnut Park, and a portion of Huntington Park, is confident that funding community organizations to work with at-risk youth will pay off immensely in the long run. If the budget proposal is approved, the assemblymember says it will keep 10,000 young people from arrest, detention, and incarceration each year.

“When we incarcerate young people, that’s about $200,000 to $300,000 per year, per kid,” said Jones-Sawyer. “With this $100 million, I could save the taxpayers maybe $8 to 10 billion.”

The Youth Reinvestment Fund would apportion:

• $10 million for Tribal Diversion Programs for Native American youth.
• $15 million for social workers to assist minors in juvenile or criminal court, within the public defenders office.
• $75 million would fund local diversion programs and community-based services for at-risk youth over a 3-year grant period.

One of the critical components of the Youth Reinvestment Fund is hiring more social workers to help out in public defenders’ offices. As it stands right now, only three counties (Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Contra Costa) have social workers on site in public defender’s offices. Even still, Jones-Sawyer notes that there are not enough social workers to participate in every case, according to the article. Brendon Woods, head of the Alameda County Public Defender’s office, says that when young people have the help of social workers, it reduces recidivism rates.

“The ones that do have social workers have tremendous success in terms of advocating for their youth, finding alternatives to incarceration, getting them into community-based programs,” Woods said. “It is almost night and day compared to the services that are provided to youth when social workers are involved as opposed to when they are not.”

Juvenile Defense Attorney

The Law Offices of Katie Walsh specialize in juvenile law. If your son or daughter is facing criminal charges, Attorney Walsh can assist you and your family in several ways. Please contact our office for a free consultation.