NEW ORLEANS — October is Youth Justice Action Month, a month where advocates try to educate people about rehabilitation for kids who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. For the past several months, Louisiana has been trying to make changes to the juvenile justice system.
Leaders have held a special session at the state capital on crime, plus local leaders have met with state leaders to help understand what's going on. Ankle monitors have been much of the focus.
We've seen cases recently where young people on ankle monitors have been accused of committing violent offenses, like in the case of Kristi Thibodeaux, who was shot and killed in the French Quarter. But those who work closely with teens behind bars say not every teen who is incarcerated is the same, and criminal justice shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all approach.
"None of our children are a monolith," Renard Bridgewater, the communications manager at the Louisiana Center for Children's Rights said.
The Louisiana Center for Children's Rights is a nonprofit that serves as the juvenile public defender for about 90% of kids who come into contact with the juvenile system. Bridgewater says in some cases, ankle monitors can cause more harm.
"That home may not be a safe haven as well if there’s potential domestic abuse taking place If there are substance abuse issues either from family or a parent," Bridgewater said. "So when you have those types of situations taking place, then the child’s trying to separate themselves from the type of trauma that led them to be system involved, to begin with," he said.
Bridgewater says rehabilitation should be an alternative — which is a key point in Youth Justice Action Month.
"That could be afterschool programming, that could be credible messenger, restorative justice practices," Bridgewater said. "Any of those things would, I think they address harm in a very meaningful and intentional way compared to just being able to disappear problems."
He says if we want anything to change, we have to address the root causes of violence.
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