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Walter Dean Myers, who has done author visits for LIT, has been named the national ambassador for children’s literature.

Funding for New Youth Detention Center in Georgia Moving Through Legislature February 22, 2012
Georgia state Senate budget writers signed off Tuesday on $3.35 million in immediate funding to open and staff a youth prison in south Fulton County. The new 80-bed Atlanta Youth Development Campus, the first in North Georgia, could open as soon as April, helping to ease pressures at the state’s six other prisons for juveniles....
A Letter to My Friends February 22, 2012
A colleague recently called to complain about the criticism heaped on him for his efforts to bring detention reform to his community. He has been called a lot of names and doesn’t know if he can continue to endure the emotional pain. It made me think of others doing this work and the same painful...
Coming From Behind, Alabama Education Program Paying Off February 22, 2012
Following disheartening National Assessment of Educational Progress marks in 1996, the Alabama State Department of Education (ASDE) introduced a program, the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) to improve the state’s lagging test scores. The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, part of the Institute of Education Sciences, recently published an evaluation...

New York’s realignment plan announced January 23, 2012
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last week that his budget would include a provision to reform the state’s juvenile justice system by providing residential and community-based care in New York City for young people adjudicated as delinquents who are from New York City, rather than sending them upstate. Called the ‘Close to Home’ [...]
Children’s Defense Fund releases important data about youth justice in New York December 19, 2011
The Children’s Defense Fund of New York has just released a toolkit on youth justice which can be used by educators to teach students about juvenile justice reform. The toolkit includes important data about how many youth become enmeshed in New York’s system, the costs of secure care, and what kinds of reforms [...]
Innovative programs in residential care: the Work Appreciation for Youth program December 12, 2011
I recently learned about a program offered by Children’s Village, an agency for children in New York’s child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice systems, which provides support to youth leaving residential care. Under the program, called the Work Appreciation for Youth model, Children’s Village provides mentorship and guidance to youth leaving care, [...]

Selena Teji On California’s Broken Juvenile Detention System August 18, 2011
In 1858, the San Francisco Industrial School, California’s first large juvenile facility opened its doors and ushered in a new era of large dormitory-style institutions that would plague California to the present day. Rife with scandal, abuse, violence and a significant deficit of programming, congregate care institutions have proven a failed model since the 19th...
KIDS COUNT: Georgia Ranks Near Bottom of States Due to Increased Poverty August 17, 2011
For the third year in a row, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Book ranked Georgia 42nd overall. The KIDS COUNT report ranks states by measuring the health and safety of children using a variety of indicators. Georgia ranked in the bottom half of all indicators nationally. The study found 37 percent of...
John Lash On Scared Straight From a Personal Experience August 17, 2011
I just watched the newest season of A&E’s “Beyond Scared Straight.” This was my first exposure to the show. JJIE.org has covered the details of this program and experts have weighed in about it in this space, from knowledgeable, yet slightly removed positions. For me, however, it was a strange and personal experience. Watching the show I...