This article is the first in CPJ’s Shared Justice series on involving families and communities in the juvenile justice system. In the United States, courts will hear nearly 800,000 juvenile justice cases per year. In the current complex system, probation officers and parents often work against each other rather than with each other; this series outlines the tangible ways families can be involved in the restorative process for their children who are in the justice system.
Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends-as-close-as-family, because of the significant role they play in our lives, have an outstanding impact on our formation. To neglect the role these people play in our lives is to miss an opportunity for growth, wisdom, and understanding. However, in the juvenile justice system, families and those who make up a child’s family unit are often neglected—more often than not by accident or prejudice—in the process of restorative care.
What is restorative justice? Restorative justice is an alternative justice system process that youth in some states can go through instead of formal sentencing and incarceration. Whether youth are involved in a restorative justice process or traditional juvenile justice sentencing, the process can involve many different individuals in case planning. In any case planning for justice-involved youth, probation officers and practitioners should focus on involving the families in a variety of different ways to better support the youth and obtain long-term results. Probation officers should invite families into the discussion when undergoing case planning to develop a course of action that is best suited to the needs of the individual and most likely to create lasting, positive change. To do this well, it is important to understand how family should be defined, why it is essential to involve the family, and how these ideas can be practically implemented.
In many cases, involving family in the process of restorative care will lead to higher success rates for keeping youth out of incarceration. In most instances, family members desire to be involved in their child’s restorative justice plan, but face barriers that make it challenging for them to do so. In a survey of over 1,000 family members of youths in the juvenile justice system, 91% of participants believed that the courts should involve families more in decision making for children and 86% expressed interest in being more involved in their children’s plan. While not every family is able to or should fully participate in supporting their youth involved in the justice system, this reality should not prevent families who are able and want to be involved from partnering with probation officers in the restorative justice process.
It is essential that family members of youth in the justice system are involved in the case planning process, not only because it helps better tailor the care to the youth’s needs because it honors the unique role of the family. The Center for Public Justice’s Guideline on family states, “The family is the most basic of human institutions. Government should recognize and protect the family as an essential expression of its responsibility to uphold a just society.” Additionally, CPJ outlines that, “Government’s policies should aim to uphold the integrity and social viability of families, which do not exist in a social, economic, or political vacuum.” When we recognize the integrity of the family as the most basic institution in our society, it becomes apparent that it is essential to involve the family when making decisions regarding justice-involved youth. It is the role of the government to aid in assisting families as they raise their children to be justice-seeking citizens. When teens and youth fall off the path that their families hoped they would continue on and engage in crime and delinquency, the government has the opportunity to step in, not to take over, but rather to partner with families in ensuring that youth are properly restored to the community in a holistic manner.
When teens and youth fall off the path that their families hoped they would continue on and engage in crime and delinquency, the government has the opportunity to step in, not to take over, but rather to partner with families in ensuring that youth are properly restored to the community in a holistic manner.
The role of the extended family is also important for probation officers to consider in the restoration of youth in the juvenile justice system. CPJ’s Guideline on Family also states that “The family bond holds for the lifetime of its members and reaches back to grandparents, ahead to grandchildren, and out to aunts, uncles, and cousins.” These people often play an important role in the lives of youth and, in some cases, spend a significant amount of time with the child that might make them an integral part of their care. Probation officers should involve extended family members in the process of case planning as it makes sense in order to support the incredible opportunity to gain further insight in case planning. .
It is also important that probation officers consider a child’s chosen family in the process of case planning. In the lives of many children, there might be people who act as family members but are not blood related. For example, if the youth is involved in church, it might be important to include a pastor, mentor, or small group leader in restorative justice conversations. Or perhaps it would be important to talk with a teacher, coach, or band director. Children may act differently around these mentors than they do around their nuclear family unit which is why it might be important to involve a child’s chosen family in the process as they speak to the multi-faceted needs of the child.
Understanding who the child’s “family” is requires the social workers and probation officers involved to ask about them. These discoveries can be made from asking thoughtful questions about who helps the youth with their schoolwork to who is their biggest role model. These questions help the probation officers understand some of the individuals who have been most formative in a child’s life. While the family is one of the most essential and basic institutions, it is also important to consider how a healthy family life should be defined and when it is important to involve members of the community to act on behalf of the child or to partner with the child’s family in their care. No child should have to go through the sentencing process alone, even that child’s understanding of family might not fit the nuclear definition.
There are both big and small ways that probation officers can partner with parents and other important adults in a child’s life who should have a say when it comes to restorative case planning for a teen. As outlined, once we understand who makes up the family, we can then consider practical ways to involve the family in restorative case planning.
It is important to note that for many, particularly families of color, the involvement of probation officers in the juvenile justice case is not a welcome one. In most juvenile justice cases, the relationship between probation officers and families is tense. A study conducted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation revealed that this lack of trust is often heightened by “tensions stemming from unfair policies and practices, discriminatory treatment and inequitable opportunities and outcomes that have systematically privileged white people and disadvantaged people of color.” Probation officers working with families of color might find that these families “understand— from personal experiences, in many cases—that the country’s policies and practices, including those within the justice system, treat people of color far more harshly than their white peers.”
Additionally, there is a disproportionate representation of youth of color within the juvenile justice system, in large part due to the over policing in communities of color. The AECF study referenced above reveals that “many young people of color reside in neighborhoods that are patrolled far more heavily by police than majority-white neighborhoods.” Indeed, community trust of probation officers is not a guarantee in this context. Still, probation officers have the opportunity to help young people of color who are facing systematic barriers by partnering and forming strong relationships with their families. Addressing racial inequities requires strategic action which is why it is essential to involve the youth’s family and take time to listen to their concerns. Building trust between the probation officers and families is crucial and acknowledging the barriers that children of color face is an important step in the process of restorative care.
Building trust between the probation officers and families is crucial and acknowledging the barriers that children of color face is an important step in the process of restorative care.
Indecipherable language and processes might also cause a lack of trust between families and probation officers. The Annie E. Casey Foundation explains that “the juvenile justice systems rules, procedures and jargon filled vocabulary can make it difficult or impossible for families to participate in (or even follow) discussion about their child’s care.” Additionally, the trauma that these youth, and often their families, have experienced may make their relationship with probation officers and other officials even more tense. However, if a child sees their family being included in the process, that may help strengthen the relationship they have with their families as the child would come to see them as having an active role in their care and recovery.
One way probation officers can include family is to organize family team meetings in the case planning process. The Annie E. Casey Foundation published a report finding that family team meetings can be a primary what to engage families. Many child welfare agencies use family meetings as a way to successfully place foster and adoptive children. This model, when applied to justice-involved youth could have a similarly positive effect by bringing together young people and their families and including them in the decision-making process. Creating intentional time where families are invited into conversations surrounding the consequences for and restoration of their teen and are able to offer insight in a relatively informal, roundtable discussion format is a great way to ensure that plans are being catered to the specific needs of the youth.
In order for families to be involved in case planning and to attend these roundtable discussions, it is important that the involvement process is made as easy as possible for them. The Annie E. Casey Foundation outlines some of these practical problems families might face as well as potential solutions. Probation officers should consider some of the barriers that might inhibit a family from being involved or being able to meet with them. For example, if the family lacks a reliable method of transportation, then it might be better for the probation officer to commute to that family’s home to conduct meetings. Making involvement less challenging for the family also requires refraining from imposing fines on the youth that would need to be paid off by their families. This is especially helpful for families who are already struggling financially. Imposing fines can be a worrisome burden that leads parents to work longer hours and have less time to be involved in the restorative care of their child. These are just a few of the barriers to family involvement. Probation officers who take the time to understand these barriers and challenges and cater to the specific needs of the family, may see family members who are more actively involved in the restorative justice process.
In order to develop a juvenile justice system that prioritizes holistic, restorative, family-involved care, it is essential to involve families in building the structure and understand what works for them in the process, what their needs are, and how this involvement should look.
Another way to overcome the practical barriers that inhibit families from being involved is by soliciting their opinions through surveys, interviews and other methods to create a system that better accommodates their needs. In order to develop a juvenile justice system that prioritizes holistic, restorative, family-involved care, it is essential to involve families in building the structure and understand what works for them in the process, what their needs are, and how this involvement should look. This can be achieved by surveying and interviewing families who have been through this process to understand what was helpful and what made the process more difficult for them. This can also be achieved by hiring family members of justice-involved youth as probation officers and officials. A study conducted by the Annie E. Casey foundation suggests that those who have been through the system offer a unique perspective and “probation agencies should hire parents of youth currently or formerly involved in the justice system to guide and counsel parents and other family members.”
Changing the way that probation officers and families interact will require both large and small actions and policy changes. There is no exact formula for family involvement in restorative case planning because every family looks different and each child has different needs and backgrounds. Upholding the inherent value of the family is a crucial step in creating positive change in the juvenile justice system and fostering an environment that prioritizes holistic and restorative care for youth and lowers the risk of recidivism. Probation officers have a great opportunity to engage justice-involved youth, asking them about the people in their life who understand them the best—and to partner with those people who also want to see them succeed.
Grace Pixton is a student at Baylor University with a dual major in Religion with a concentration in Theology and Ethics, and Professional Writing and Rhetoric with a minor in History. She served as an editorial intern for the Center for Public Justice.
