New Judicial Education Cirriculum on Managing Juvenile Sex Offense Cases
The Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP) has recently released an innovative curriculum that provides practical information to juvenile and family court judges about youth who engage in sexually abusive behavior. This curriculum is designed to enhance their day-to-day decision-making in these challenging cases. During the past several years, this one day curriculum has been delivered with very positive results at 17 statewide judicial education events (i.e., 16 states and the District of Columbia) to approximately 700 judges. The curriculum, The Role of Judges in Managing Juvenile Sex Offense Cases: Keys to Informed Decision-Making, was developed through a SJI grant in FY 2004 (SJI-04-N-160). Sex offenses committed by youth are frequently identified by juvenile and family court judges as among the most challenging cases, though representing only a relatively small proportion of all delinquency petitions. These cases are considered particularly challenging by judges for a host of reasons, including:
- The complex dynamics associated with juvenile sex offending behavior;
- Questions about differentiating higher from lower risk youth;
- Concerns about adequately and concurrently addressing the needs of victims;
- An often limited continuum of treatment resources at their disposal;
- Dynamics affecting family engagement; and
- Broader system responses that are based on the assumption that these youth mirror adult sex offenders.
In most jurisdictions across the nation, juvenile and family court judges are afforded considerable discretion and, as such, they are uniquely positioned to facilitate appropriate and effective intervention strategies, beginning at the early stages of the system and continuing thereafter. Because many advances in research and practice relative to juvenile sex offenders have been made during the past decade, exposure to and understanding of, this contemporary information can prove useful for juvenile and family court judges as they preside over these cases. However, in contrast to the expansion of discipline-specific resources for the professionals responsible for assessment, supervision, institutional programming, and community-based treatment, specialized educational opportunities and materials about juvenile sex offenders that are designed specifically for juvenile judges have remained relatively limited. This curriculum is intended to fill this gap in the judicial education field.
The key topics that are covered in this curriculum include the following:
- Differences between juveniles and adults who commit sex offenses;
- Unique considerations for judges at key decision points throughout the juvenile and family court process;
- Specialized assessment, treatment, and supervision approaches from the perspective of the judiciary;
- Strategies for facilitating family engagement from the bench;
- Local policies and practices that are in place for juvenile sex offenders, the victims of these offenses, and their families; and
- Various roles that the judiciary can assume in promoting effective juvenile sex offender management efforts.
The curriculum agenda is designed to facilitate open exchange and discussion between participants and the faculty members regarding common challenges and creative solutions related to the management of juvenile sex offenders. Paper copies of this curriculum have been distributed to judicial educators, members of the judiciary, and other interested parties across the United States. An electronic version is available on the Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM) website: http://www.csom.org/pubs/juvenile_sex_cases.pdf.
