Gender responsive approach for girls in the juvenile justice system
Girls who have negative childhood experiences, such as neglect, physical or sexual abuse, are at a greater risk to become delinquent (Violence in the Juvenile Justice system).
Girls have higher rates of mental health issues such as anger, depression, suicidal thinking, victimization, violence, and abuse than boys.
In Texas the Supreme Court ruled that girls younger than 14 years old involved in prostitution should be considered victims and provided services without criminalization.
[10] Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality published a report in 2015 synthesizing research on juvenile justice system involvement of girls in the U.S. and articulated a cycle of systems-involvement, described as the "Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline".
Prior to becoming involved in the juvenile justice system, there is evidence that girls experience higher rates of trauma and sexual abuse than system-involved boys.
[12] The differential rate of and response to trauma exposure by gender has therefore been identified as an explanation for the disproportionate entry of girls into the juvenile justice system.
In this theory, behaviors that are coping mechanisms for trauma experienced by girls, such as alcohol and drug use, and status offenses such as running away from home or shoplifting, are criminalized, leading to their system involvement.
[7] Girls in the United States enter a Juvenile Justice System that was initially formed in a manner intended to cater to predominately male offenders.
National surveys conducted by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention have found insufficient health and trauma-related services for girls in residential detention centers.
Research by Conrad et al. on males and females in the Northeast United States from 2006 to 2008 found that gender alone did not predict recidivism rates for juvenile-justice involved youth.
[7] Research has shown that juvenile-justice involved youth who have been sexually abused are at increased risk for being victims of human trafficking.
In a study by Reid et al. (2017) examining the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences among boys and girls in the juvenile justice system in Florida who were reported as victims of human trafficking between 2009 and 2015, sexual abuse history was determined to be the strongest factor predicting likelihood of human trafficking victimization.
Responses designed to cater to females include collaboration by courts, lawyers, probation, human services, community programming, and federal and local governments.
This is due to the small number of girls within a given juvenile justice system who would be exposed to new programs or policies and the challenges this poses for statistically rigorous study designs.
[8] In one qualitative analysis by Hodge et al., county juvenile court staff were interviewed to determine if gender-responsive programming was meeting its intended goal.
Researchers Suarez et al. suggested that these improvements may be due to the program's focus on intensive, peer-delivered supports within the community, and highlighted the relatively low cost of providing these services.
[19] As of 2017, an evaluation conducted by MDRC is underway of the PACE Center for Girls program in Florida, with anticipated release of a final report for 2018.
[citation needed] Girl's court (Growing Independence Restoring Lives) offers a variety of programs in the United States.
Services vary from immediate attention and clinical intervention, addressing gender specific issues, to acknowledging unique needs and differences.
The task force will focus on identifying and developing a plan to interrupt the unique pathways that bring teenage girls into the city's criminal justice system.
