Crisis In America
A Broken Juvenile Justice System
and
The Broken Spirited Youth It Oversees
By
Rev. Matthew J. Watts
President/CEO
HOPE Community Development Corporation
Crisis in America
A Broken Juvenile Justice System
And
The Broken Spirited Youth It Oversees
The Crisis
2.2 million Adults in prison in the U.S.
Approximately 130,000 juveniles
incarcerated
Over 7.3 million children have a parent in
prison
Nearly 70% or 5.1 million children with an
incarcerated parent will end up in prison
The Mission America Pilot Cities
Youth Appearing in Juvenile Court
No. of No. of
Youth Youth Criminal Sexual Aggravated Simple Other
Appearing Incarcerated Homicide Assault Robbery Assault Assault Person
in Court or Detained
Pilot 34,118 - - - - - - -
Counties
Pilot 402,394 32,844 420 2,526 2,715 3,210 2,040 1,071
States
Crisis in America
A Broken Juvenile Justice System
And
The Broken Spirited Youth It Oversees
The Cause
The breakdown of the nuclear and extended family
70% of all African American children are born out of
wedlock
35% of all white children are born out of wedlock
The breakdown of the Community
The ineffectiveness of the Church to evangelize
these children
The failure of the Juvenile Justice System
An antiquated ineffective model
A closed system cloaked in confidentiality
Little involvement of the Church
Crisis in America
A Broken Juvenile Justice System
And
The Broken Spirited Youth It Oversees
The Cure
Engage the Church in a content-based in-
school mentoring initiative
Engage the Church in mentoring
incarcerated and detained youth
Engage the Church in community-based
alternative sentencing and re-entry
initiatives
Crisis in America
A Broken Juvenile Justice System
And
The Broken Spirited Youth It Oversees
The Challenge
To Evangelize Youth in the:
General Public School System
Special Education System
Alternative School System
Public Housing System
Foster Care System
Juvenile Court System
Juvenile Incarceration and Detention System
Streets of our City System
Rev. Matthew J. Watts
President/CEO
HOPE Community Development Corporation
600 Kanawha Blvd., West
Charleston, West Virginia 25302
(304) 342-3249
gracech@wv-cis.net