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Mario’s Law—A Second Look at Youth Sentencing
Rhode Island legislation offers parole review for crimes committed before age 22, acknowledging brain development and capacity for change Enacted in July 2021, Mario's Law allows individuals who committed offenses before their 22nd birthday to be eligible for parole...
Garden Time Uses Prison Gardens and Green Jobs Training to Support Rehabilitation at Rhode Island’s ACI
Garden Time is a Rhode Island–based organization that works to humanize the situation at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institution. They run three programs: an In-Prison Garden Education Program, which teaches incarcerated individuals sustainable agricultural...
Poverty, Bias, and the Systemic Over-Removal of Black Children in Foster Care
This story details the disproportionate representation and negative outcomes for Black children in the foster care system. Black children, who make up about 14% of the child population, represent 22% to 23% of children in foster care and are removed from their homes at excessively high rates. This disparity is driven by the intersection of poverty, where Black families are more often labeled neglectful, and institutional bias, resulting in higher reporting and investigation rates by schools, hospitals, and law enforcement. Research shows that Black children are more likely to be removed even when compared to children at similar risk levels. The Blind Removal Pilot Program is an initiative implemented by Los Angeles County and UCLA that attempts to address bias by redacting identifying information such as race, ethnicity, and location from case files during the committee deliberation process for removal decisions. The instability caused by system involvement leads to poor educational outcomes; only about 51% of Black foster youth in LA County graduated high school on time, and their suspension rates (17%) and chronic absenteeism rates (34%) far exceed district averages. Furthermore, African-American youth who leave state care are less likely to be employed and more likely to report incarceration. Recommended solutions include providing more support to families to reduce risk factors like poverty, requiring training to reduce implicit bias, and promoting systemic transparency.
“Good on Paper, Not in Practice”: Addressing the Persistent Mental Health Crisis in Rhode Island’s Juvenile Justice System
A new Communities of Hope report highlights systemic gaps in Rhode Island’s juvenile justice mental health services, revealing that state‑mandated protections often fall short of meeting adolescents’ needs. Although the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) asserts that young people entering the training school have “unimpeded access” to private healthcare and mandatory screenings—including suicide risk assessments and meetings with social workers—research shows these measures rarely translate to effective, consistent care.
According to the 2023 Kids Count report, 65% to 70% of children arrested nationally have a diagnosable mental health disorder, and many more develop psychological distress while incarcerated. Formerly incarcerated youth interviewed for the story described profound isolation, depression, and a system ill‑equipped to respond to trauma. These challenges, the report argues, stem from longstanding historical failures: Rhode Island’s earliest reform schools in the late 1800s were likened to workhouses, with documented physical and emotional abuse—conditions that set a precedent for inadequate care that reforms have yet to fully overcome.
While policies and protocols may appear robust on paper, advocates stress that meaningful solutions lie in trauma‑informed, community‑rooted mental health interventions—not solely procedural compliance. The story suggests that implementing evidence‑based care models and strengthening accountability for service delivery could finally bring Rhode Island’s juvenile justice system closer to providing the comprehensive mental health support its youth deserve.
Maryland Faces Lawsuits Over Juvenile Sexual Abuse
Macayla collaborates with the Communities of Hope Student Media Challenge team to address mental health issues within the juvenile justice system.We will be discussing a recent story our Solutions Journalism Network team did research on over the past week. We would...