The Mission:

We are seeking to help them strive Educationally, Economically, Politically, to build Social Development Skills, Organizational Skills and Unity. And if we use these six (6) elements I just mentioned as a guiding light, we believe that they will grow and develop into our future leaders of tomorrow. In the visions of this program and through this programs’ vision they’ll become a reckoning force of power beyond boundaries and without measures. If they trust, look, listen, and learn to see everything placed before them in its entire form, and to that all they have to do is keep their eyes, ears, and mind open and they will learn. All they have to do is use everything they have learned from our program to gain an advantage in life. With the concept of the five (5) P’s, which is our motto and stands for: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. Thus, meaning if we Properly Prepare them for the future we can Prevent Poor Performance in their lives--by giving them stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks--and that poor performance is being involved in drugs, guns, robberies, and several other crimes and mishaps and going in and out of jail. So, we are asking you, the parents and community, to lend a helping hand in making the J.I.T. Outreach Program a success and impact in giving our children a chance to live an auspicious, propitious, and fortunate future!!

Our main focus is helping these juveniles to seek a better path in life other than that of the streets; but in order to do so; we’ll need the help of those juveniles’ parents. If we show them Love, Life, Loyalty, Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding, we believe that we can capture their way of thinking at an early stage in life, we can help mold them into our future Lawyers, Doctors, Teachers, Police Officers, Fire Fighters, Governors, Senators, Contractors, etc. As we all know, it takes a village to raise child, and with the help of the parents and community, J.I.T Outreach Program will become that village. Even though I was once one of those juveniles involved in the street life, drugs and guns, I have made a major turn-around in my life and I am willing to help these juveniles make that same turn-around in life that I made through my experience. By being a positive role-model and being heavily involved with the children and their families to help keep them from making those same mistakes that I made or end up in one or two places that nobody wants to be: Jail or the Graveyard!!

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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Characteristics of Juveniles Housed in Adult Jails and Prisons, part 1


A current and accurate enumeration of juveniles confined in adult prisons and jails is essential to understand the issue of youth in adult facilities. Data on youthful offenders in national reports were not sufficiently complete or comprehensive to achieve the level of detail required for this study. Consequently, a comprehensive national survey of adult jail and prison systems was required. Two survey instruments were developed to obtain data on youthful offenders, one for adult state prison systems and one for state and local adult correctional facilities. Both surveys were modeled after the Bureau of Justice Statistics correctional facility surveys. The most critical assumption in developing the surveys was a precise definition of a youthful offender. For these surveys, a “youthful offender” was defined as a person age 17 or younger. In most states, 18-year-old offenders are considered adults and are normally tried in adult court. By focusing on the population age 17 and younger, the surveys concentrated on offenders generally considered juveniles and whose presence in adult correctional facilities was exceptional. 

      The purpose of the correctional system-level survey was to collect data on the number and characteristics of all youthful offenders incarcerated in a state’s prison system, as well as to compare these characteristics with those of the adult offenders incarcerated in the system. The survey collected data on the custodial status of the juvenile residential population, housing patterns, offense background, race/ethnicity, age, length of stay, disciplinary actions, programs, litigation, health services, and capacity.

      The facility-level survey was intended to provide specific information on the actual conditions of confinement in prisons and data about some of the large jail systems. This survey asked questions about facility characteristics, housing patterns, offense history, race/ethnicity, age, length of stay, disciplinary actions, programs, litigation, and health services. Although the facility survey addresses many of the issues identified in the system
survey, it is designed to give a better sense of the “fit” between the youth and the adults in these institutions.

      Both the system- and facility-level surveys were sent to each state prison system, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and 19 jail systems. The selected jails included all the major metropolitan jail systems and a sample of small and medium-size jails throughout the country. In total, 70 surveys were distributed. Surveys were mailed in September 1998, and a followup survey was mailed in January 1999. Participating state and local systems were instructed to complete the system-level survey and disseminate the facility-level survey to any facilities in their jurisdiction that housed youthful offenders. The number of participants in the facility-level survey was dependent on the number of adult facilities identified by jurisdictions as housing juveniles, the number of such facilities to which the jurisdictions mailed the facility survey, and the willingness of these particular facilities to respond to the survey.

      All 50 states, 3 of the 19 jail systems (Los Angeles County, New York City, and Philadelphia), and the District of Columbia responded to the system-level survey, and 196 correctional agencies responded to the facility-level survey. Despite efforts to solicit their participation, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and other selected jail systems refused to take part in this research. Consequently, these results are not representative of the total population of juveniles in adult prisons.

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