‘Really important work’: Initiative to keep youth out of the juvenile justice system launches

When Kathi Elliott asked a room full of people how they were feeling Thursday morning, many responded with “excited,” “inspired” and “energized.” 

These feelings of anticipation and hopefulness probably can be attributed to the fact that all in attendance had gathered for the official launch of a new community-led initiative to combat youth violence and decrease youth arrests.

Community group organizers, law enforcement representatives, folks from the justice and welfare systems and other county leaders met for breakfast Thursday at the Jeron X. Grayson Community Center in the Hill District for the unveiling of Caring Connections for YOUth, described as a diversion network for youth, families and systems. The plan is to reroute young people away from ending up in court or worse.

Led by Gwen’s Girls and the Black Girls Equity Alliance, the initiative will provide a 24-hour call center to connect callers to community-based resources for those 18 years and under within Allegheny County. 

According to a 2019 BGEA report, Disrupting Pathways to Juvenile Justice for Black Youth in Allegheny County, referrals to the juvenile system have been down in Allegheny County. However, racial disproportionality in referrals is up.

Black girls are 10 times more likely than white girls, and Black boys are seven times more likely than white boys, to be referred to the system, according to the data. 

Elliot, the CEO of Gwen’s Girls, said the initiative had been in the works since 2018. After looking at the data, initiative organizers found that 55% of referrals to magistrates or juvenile probation for Black girls came from the Pittsburgh Public Schools system in 2019, most for disorderly conduct.

According to Elliot, schools often don’t have the services and support to deal with lower-risk youth, and police and administrators don’t know how to connect with community-based organizations.

“A lot of times, the schools don’t have those resources or a capacity to take the time to really assess what is happening with that young person and their families,” Elliot told the Pittsburgh Union Progress. “You just can’t look at strategies to fix the youth. You have to look at what’s happening holistically in their life, in their community, in their family and try to address those issues at the same time.”

Caring Connections for YOUth will help connect community resources to community members through a 24-hour centralized intake center. The center will be managed by Gwen’s Girls and United Way’s PA 211 Southwest helpline. The initiative promises quality support and consistent follow-up calls.

Connections can be made for youth, parents, police officers, school personnel, probation officers, magistrates, juvenile court judges, any youth-serving entity and more. Callers are encouraged to dial 211, rather than 911, for issues such as disorderly conduct, minor drug possession, fighting, truancy and parent-child conflict.

“We want to disrupt the typical type of pipeline that brings kids into the juvenile system,” said Sara Nevels, Caring Connections for YOUth supervisor. “We want to give police, we want to give frustrated parents, we want to give teachers, we want to give the community other ways to help our kids to interrupt the trajectory that sends them into a spiral.”

Along with the call center, 10 resource coordinators will be embedded around the county to help collect intake information, develop a referral network and provide case management and ongoing follow-up to ensure all parties receive the needed support.

Initial efforts will be concentrated in communities and school districts that see higher rates of referrals to juvenile court. These include Pittsburgh’s East End, South Side and West End, plus Braddock, East Pittsburgh, McKeesport, Duquesne, Clairton and Penn Hills.

“This is really important work; these are really important issues,” said Kim Berkeley Clark, president judge of the Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania. “When Kathi and others shared the data, it was shocking. It really hurt my heart about what was happening to our children, particularly children of color, particularly girls because I’m a Black girl, too.”

After years of planning and preparation, Elliot called the Thursday launch of Caring Connections for YOUth a blessing.

“It’s exciting, but it’s just the beginning because we know with any new adventure there’s going to be possible setbacks, things that we would have to address,” she said. “We’re prepared for those and just excited to be able to have a space where people can turn to because we know that even judges and police that really want to help our young people feel like they just don’t have any other recourse to do so.”