Judicial Confinement and Release Decisions:
Protecting Youth and Communities During the Pandemic and Beyond
As cases of COVID-19 proliferated across the U.S., virus hotspots emerged in correctional facilities, where social and physical distancing measures, intended to curb viral spread, were difficult to implement. Poor conditions—such as crowding, ventilation issues, and limited basic sanitation supplies—make correctional facilities breeding grounds for viral outbreaks. Fears of COVID-19 outbreaks manifested in U.S. correctional facilities, where positive cases surfaced much faster than in the general population. Youth in justice facilities faced and continue to face heightened risk, as confined youth tend to experience chronic conditions, like asthma, that predispose them to developing severe illness. Additionally, youth of color are overrepresented in justice facilities, and African American individuals, in particular, face disproportionate risk of dying from COVID-19, compounding the effects of inequality.
To protect this vulnerable youth population—and the staff that work with them—from imminent harm during this pandemic, the JJR&R Lab partnered with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) to:
This project continues to support legal actors in using this research-guided structured decision-making process to justice system decisions well beyond the pandemic to safely reduce the number of youth confinement and to establish response strategies for future emergency situations at local, state, and national levels in which youth cannot be safely confined.
The project is supported by funding from the Spencer Foundation and William T. Grant Foundation.
To protect this vulnerable youth population—and the staff that work with them—from imminent harm during this pandemic, the JJR&R Lab partnered with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) to:
- Use rigorous standards of evidence to review and synthesize available research on risk assessment, risk reduction, and judicial decision making within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Develop a structured decision-making process to support judges, probation officers, and other legal decision makers in safely reducing confinement of youth in justice facilities across the U.S. during this period.
This project continues to support legal actors in using this research-guided structured decision-making process to justice system decisions well beyond the pandemic to safely reduce the number of youth confinement and to establish response strategies for future emergency situations at local, state, and national levels in which youth cannot be safely confined.
The project is supported by funding from the Spencer Foundation and William T. Grant Foundation.
