Girls in the Systems: The Journey Through the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems
Girls in the Systems: The Journey Through the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems
NAWJ’s Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare, Domestic Violence, Ensuring Racial Equity, Fairness & Access, and Human Trafficking Committees would like to shed light on a critical and often overlooked issue: the experiences of girls within the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Made evident by their growing presence, girls’ needs are not being met by these systems that were originally designed for boys. Dr. Meda Chesney-Lind, author of Girls, Delinquency, and Juvenile Justice, will discuss the unique challenges faced by girls by discussing the history of the court’s policing of girls, the current evidence about the actual dimensions of female delinquency and trends in juvenile arrests, particularly girls’ arrests for non-traditional offenses. Ad’mirel Durden, a senior at Washington University in St. Louis who has in part dedicated her studies to the child welfare system, will delve into girls’ experiences within the Child Welfare system, will address the intersectionality within this issue, and will provide a platform for discussing advocacy strategies and support mechanisms.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the Current Trends: There is a heightened rate of girls within both the juvenile justice system and the child welfare system. Our panelists will discuss the current evidence within both systems to dissect why that is the case and the complications that arise because of it.
- Set the Stage to Discuss Bias: The risk factors and other characteristics girls in either or both systems overlap. This webinar will discuss what those risk factors and characteristics are in order to set the stage for the second webinar in the series, which will discuss bias and best practices to eradicate bias.
Presenter Bios
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