On Tuesday, October 1, 2024, CFCC hosted its symposium, Keeping Youth in Community: Policies, Practices, and Programs to ​Promote Youth Justice, at the University of Baltimore School of Law. This blog is one in a series of four posts about the CFCC 2024 Symposium.

During Panel Two, moderated by Alice Wilkerson, executive director of Advance Maryland, panelists shared their insights on Promoting Community Bonds During Legal Proceedings.  Kicking off the panel, The Hon. Charles Blomquist, associate judge and Judge-in-Charge, Juvenile Division, Baltimore ​City Circuit Court, reminded us that whenever we are thinking about best practices, we need to remember that we are “dealing with individual kids, children who have names, and not a collective.” Thus, while we need to rely on data, what each child requires depends on their specific circumstances. He later expressed that this is difficult in practice due to the delay in implementation of services even after they are identified and ordered. Jennifer Rallo, team captain of the Juvenile Division, Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, explained how as a juvenile system prosecutor, what drives her decision-making is the balance between her two roles: protecting public safety and what is in the best interest of the youth.

Other panelists explained why increased court involvement is rarely in the best interest of the child. Josh Rovner, director of youth justice for The Sentencing Project, noted that despite the need for flexibility, children are automatically treated as adults if charged with one of 34 crimes in Maryland. He cited data that reveals that court involvement is worse for children on 19 different metrics of child well-being, and the deeper that children go into the system, the worse their outcomes are. Michelle Kim, assistant public defender and supervising attorney at the Office of the Public Defender in Baltimore City, recounted a conversation with a returning youth client who had not been home for more than six months since he became a teenager.  He lamented all of the ways his social and emotional development were being stunted due to his detention. She said she took for granted all the things that children don’t experience or learn when they are not in their community during crucial developmental stages.

Rovner expressed frustration that the data is clear that youth who are detained, committed, and/or put on probation are more likely to reoffend, yet we continue to take that approach while forcing community-based programs to justify their existence. Kim explained that where we do have data, the data supports the expansion of  these alternatives to court, with low rates of recidivism and high completion rates for services. 94  percent of children who were diverted did not reoffend, and 88 percent completed all of their mandated services. She noted that these programs are better suited than court involvement to address children’s misbehavior in a developmentally appropriate way.  She noted that programs like teen truancy court, as well as Restorative Response Baltimore, have proven successful.

Panelists agreed that the court system is limited in scope, and courts and system actors can only do what is permitted by the law.  Most expressed that ideally children would never have system involvement. Jennifer Rallo, team captain of the Juvenile Division, Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, explained how as a juvenile system prosecutor, what drives her decision-making is the balance between her two roles: protecting public safety and what is in the best interest of the youth.  She  wished that children had the supports they needed earlier so that they would never end up in the juvenile system.

When asked what the key ingredients for success are to support youth in community, panelists agreed that caring adults and mentors was critical. Bloomquist noted that a number of alternative programs have demonstrated benefits, and there are countless opportunities to connect with a child. Rovner acknowledged that having culturally competent, community-based providers is also crucial because differences in background, race, culture, and ethnicity can sometimes be barriers to connection. Kim said such programs need the buy-in of the youth that they’re serving.  It is important to these youth that they see concrete results and support for their communities. Panelists also acknowledged that many of these children lack resources, both in terms of services and the ability to meet material needs, like housing, temporary cash assistance, and food.  As Kim emphasized, “We cannot talk about kids having a college education without making sure they first have clean clothes.” To that end, Wilkerson and Kim urged people to please donate to the OPD youth supply closet, so that young people who have juvenile system involvement can shop for the things they need, especially as winter draws near.  Please click here if you would like to support these young people.