NCJ Number
239884
Date Published
March 2010
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This brief from the National Juvenile Justice Network discusses solutions for ending the criminalization of students of color.
Abstract
This brief addresses the problem of criminalization of students of color by school systems across the country. It is noted that rather than developing policies and procedures to deal with delinquent youth, school systems increasingly have chosen to invest their limited resources in on-site law enforcement and severe zero tolerance policies that end up forcing these youth directly into the juvenile justice system. The majority of the youth who end up in this situation continues to be youth of color. To end this practice, an organization in Louisiana was formed to assist these youth and their families. This brief describes the work of FFLIC - Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children. The members of FFLIC use a grassroots approach to organize parents and family members to end the practice of funneling delinquent youth of color into the juvenile justice system. Methods used by FFLIC include the integration of positive behavior supports in schools, working with other organizations to provide training to school personnel on implementing new policies and procedures for dealing with delinquent minority youth; and working with school systems to reverse the use of law enforcement in schools.