Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Thank you, Liz. It’s really great to be here and to help welcome everyone to this important conference — the first OJJDP national conference in over a decade.
I’m so glad we’re being joined today by our Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General, who we’ll hear from a little later. And very excited that we’ll have the privilege this morning of hearing from several champions of youth justice.
It is inspiring to see so many people gathered in one spot, representing so many different programs and perspectives — yet at the same time so unified in your determination to serve and support the youth of our country. That’s what this conference is all about — reinforcing our collective mission to expand opportunities for our nation’s young people.
This is very gratifying for me personally. I’ve spent my entire career working to bring opportunity to kids who have been excluded and counted out. I started my career as a teacher in South Los Angeles, before moving to New York City where I was a part of some groundbreaking work to reduce youth violence and to reduce the number of youth in locked facilities.
We were able to meet both of those goals, and we were successful in great part because we did what so many of you are doing, and what Liz and her team are supporting in cities and states across America — keeping kids connected to their communities, to their families, and to the best parts of themselves.
This work — the work we did in New York and the work you are all doing now — is possible because of a mindset that puts the focus squarely on youth, on identifying and meeting their needs and the best interests of their communities. It’s guided by what’s appropriate from a developmental standpoint, by what’s fair, and by what can help limit future contact with the system.
These principles were laid out in one place by the landmark National Academy of Sciences report, which was commissioned by OJJDP and released 12 years ago this month. If you haven’t read it, I strongly encourage you to do so. It consolidated everything we knew at the time about the adolescent brain and made an irrefutable case for juvenile justice policies and practices that follow the science.
The report turned the dial on juvenile justice reform and announced a new era of youth justice, where the needs of youth are paramount and their capacity for change and growth is recognized and respected.
And just to make the connection to OJJDP’s 50-year history that much stronger, the tide had turned before the NAS released its report. Many of you will recall the groundbreaking Pathways to Desistance study that followed more than 1,300 youth for seven years after their convictions for violent crimes. That study, which was funded by OJJDP, landed on two major findings. One, that young people who commit crimes, even serious crimes, naturally age out of criminal behavior in the vast majority of cases. And two — and this is critical — two factors can prevent this aging-out process: incarceration and exposure to trauma.
The findings from Pathways helped lay the groundwork for the NAS report and remain foundational to the evidence-based framework for juvenile justice that we are operating in today. That study — and a body of research that continues to grow — allowed us to level set and to think of juvenile justice as an opportunity to intervene early with treatment, mentoring, and other pro-social services that help address early trauma and exposure to violence.
It also helped us embrace a positive youth development model and it reinforced work long underway to build a fair and more effective juvenile justice system, one not modeled on the adult system but designed specifically for youth.
As a nation, we’ve moved forward with this model, and we’ve made great strides — and, let me be clear, we are safer because of this model. I’m really proud of the work that Liz and her team in OJJDP have done to solidify and extend those gains.
I’m also aware — as many of you are — that we can’t afford to rest on our laurels. We saw the damage of the pandemic on our youth, with school closures and broken social bonds and the toxic stress that came from isolation. The lesson we should have learned is the importance of community-based services that engage those at greatest risk and that build protective factors in our kids. Unfortunately, in some cases, what we’re seeing instead is states and local jurisdictions walking away from this responsibility. Some national leaders are even calling for a reversal of 30 years of progress; 30 years during which youth violence and youth incarceration dropped dramatically.
And while I’m disheartened by that, I’m not at all discouraged. And the reason I’m not discouraged is because there are more than 2,500 champions joining us at this conference who are committed to staying the course and building a nation where our young people are free from crime and violence. And there are many more people out there in communities across America working hard to expand opportunities for our youth.
In many ways, this is a tough moment for the field, but despite the challenges and the setbacks, I encourage us all to keep in mind the incredible progress we’ve seen over the years, and to be inspired by the innovations and reforms we’ve seen in recent years — driven by so many of you.
Now is not the time to roll back reform — now is the moment to press ahead, and to insist on a juvenile justice system that supports and empowers our kids. This is the right way to do youth justice, and we are counting on all of you to carry us forward.
Thank you for keeping us focused on the important work that lies before us. We are grateful for your leadership and for the difference you are making — for our youth, for your communities, for our nation.
Thank you for all that you do — and thank you for your time today.