Reducing delinquency and youth violence among justice-involved young people is a complicated business. Public safety is best protected when youth justice providers work with young people in their own communities, and when the efforts of courts and children’s services are coordinated with prevention agencies, schools, social services, neighborhood organizations, and faith-based groups. Continue reading Testimony to the New York City Council
Reclaiming Futures assumes that positive youth outcomes are achieved when service delivery systems are closely coordinated and provide just the right amount of individualized help with the least possible amount of coercion. Continue reading Reclaiming Futures and Organizing Justice for Drug-Using Youth
Data does not support state attorneys’ argument by Jeffrey Butts January 21, 2016 … No credible study ever located the source of the crime drop in the power of prosecutors to send youth to adult courts and adult prisons. There is just no compelling evidence to suggest that prosecutors may rightfully claim the credit for falling rates of violent youth crime. Not even in Florida. … Continue reading Tallahassee Democrat
Prosecutorial power unrelated to drop in crime By Jeffrey Butts Special to The Sun … State Attorney offices in Leon County and Alachua County recently claimed that prosecutorial discretion to decide which children are tried as adults has led to Florida enjoying “the lowest crime rate we have had in 44 years.” The Leon County state attorney suggested that the prior practice of requiring prosecutors to … Continue reading Gainesville Sun
Jeffrey A. Butts October 18, 2015 Researching the effectiveness of social policies is like pointing a flashlight inside a dark room. You can can only see what passes through the beam of light. Depending on the size of the room and the power of the beam, you may learn relatively little about the entire room. And, whoever holds the flashlight controls what you can … Continue reading Cursing the Darkness
Stargate Theatre Company began in 2013 as a theatre-making, workforce readiness, and literacy project for justice-involved youth. For seven weeks each summer, a small group of young men meets at least four days per week to write, rehearse and perform a collaboratively crafted play in an Off-Broadway venue in New York City. Continue reading Stargate Theatre Company
