The children in
North Carolina’s
juvenile justice system often have some of the greatest challenges of all of
our children. Their needs must be addressed in a holistic fashion so that
children can receive the services they need to turn their lives around.
This page features a listing of Action for Children's Juvenile Justice
Publications, featured in chronological order (most recent first). To
see more information, click "Read More."
Action for Children North Carolina's 2009 North Carolina Children's Index offers a wealth of child and youth well-being data that demonstrate the state's public policy successes as well as missed opportunities. The report shows that important investments in children's services pay off, that sound research enhances the ability to build effective programs and that, despite progress in addressing children's needs, geographic and racial disparities persist.
North Carolina's system of supportive services and services for at-risk
adolescents is fragmented, and many young people are not receiving the
help they need. The first-ever Youth Delinquency
Prevention Report Card examines the most-recently available statewide
data on adolescents -- those with healthy development, those who are at
risk and those who are already involved in the criminal justice system.
This fact sheet provides a comparison of the juvenile justice system vs. the adult justice system and reiterates the need to raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction.
This fact sheet provides an overview of Tamar R. Birckhead's research on the history of resistance to juvenile court jurisdiction reform in North Carolina. Birckhead, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
argues that lawmakers must seek a historical perspective and address this issue with a greater sense of urgency in order to join the national consensus and raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction in
North Carolina.
This fact sheet provides an overview of juvenile crime and delinquency in
North Carolina and emphasizes the need to include 16- and 17-year-olds in the juvenile justice system, where they can receive a continuum of developmentally appropriate, research-based services.
Action for Children's newest report discusses the latest scientific research on adolescent brain development, showing that while teenagers may physically resemble adults, neurologically, their brains are still developing and are extremely susceptible to environmental influences. The report also finds that in
North Carolina youth who serve adult time are more than twice as likely to be reconvicted of crimes as youth who receive juvenile services.
This flow chart demonstrates what happens when youth are routed through the juvenile justice system versus when youth are tried and sentenced in the adult system.
The 2006 North Carolina Children's Index includes more than 75 indicators of child and youth well-being in the following areas: child health and safety, economic (in)security, early care and education, child maltreatment, juvenile justice and demographics. The 2006 Index also includes a special section highlighting how the children and youth of
North Carolina are developing in positive ways.
Copies of the Children's Index are free. If you would like to order multiple copies of the Index, we do ask that you pay postage costs. Please email your name, organization, mailing address and phone number to admin@ncchild.org
North Carolina made a promise to provide all our children with a sound, basic education. Yet, this promise is being broken for the more than 150,000 students who are suspended each year. In all, more than 1-out-of-every-10 students in North Carolina are suspended from school. Suspensions occur in every single grade (including kindergarten), but are most prevalent during ninth grade.
