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September | October 2015

Message From the Administrator: National Youth Justice Awareness Month

Robert L. Listenbee, OJJDP Administrator: My name is Bob Listenbee. I’m the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Today I’m here with Brittany Claybrooks, a former juvenile justice youth leader in the state of Florida, and we’re going to have a conversation about a few things that are of interest to us here at OJJDP.

Brittany Claybrooks, Health Care Specialist/Former Juvenile Justice Professional, Washington, DC: Mr. Listenbee, the President proclaimed October as Youth Justice Awareness Month. What do you think that means for the national conversation around juvenile justice issues?

Administrator Listenbee: Well, first, the President really is focused on what he and the First Lady can do to support young people. And I say the First Lady because the First Lady spoke to the Tribal Youth Gathering here in Washington, DC, back in the summer, and her exact words were, “The President and I have your back.” So what you’re saying is what they really intend to be the message to get out to youth—that they, personally and as leaders of this Administration, are trying to make young people understand that they’re trying to connect with young people and they’re trying to find ways to improve the circumstances of young people who are in our systems—juvenile justice, child welfare, education—that they really want them to have a second chance, they really want them to have opportunities to climb the ladder into the middle class and be successful.

So that’s the message the President wants to convey. That’s the message that I—as one of his employees—am trying to convey as well. The President wants us to connect with young people. He wants us to listen to young people and make sure that the advice that young people give is incorporated into the policies and practices that we have at OJJDP.

Brittany: President Obama talked about that margin of error that not a lot of youth are allotted when they make a mistake or once they enter into the justice system. A lot of them aren’t getting that second chance that he talks about, particularly youth of color. Thank God I made it. But, a lot of students aren’t allotted that margin of error. And he talked about how, again, he and the First Lady would like it so that every child has that opportunity to reach their full potential and have their piece of the American Dream. How does that statement align with OJJDP’s vision for American youth?

Administrator Listenbee: So, it’s not just you who has had the benefit of a second chance. When I was in elementary school, I got suspended several times for fighting in class also. And today, those same young people would probably—or in many cases—be expelled or, in some cases, arrested.

What we’re trying to do is use specific grants, and research, and policies so that we can develop certain kinds of practices. For example, we believe that prearrest diversion—by law enforcement of young people who are involved in various kinds of school settings—to prevention programs that address their needs and issues are really important. That way they don’t get arrested, they don’t go into the juvenile justice system, they have their needs addressed, we maintain a climate in school where all of our children can get educated, but they move forward in life without all of the stigma attached to an arrest and an adjudication.

Secondly, we believe in and are encouraging the expungement of juvenile justice records, where appropriate, so that young people can legitimately get a second chance, have better opportunities to go forward and get grants and other kinds of things to go to school, and also have opportunities to get better employment once those records are behind them. We do not believe that young people need to be stigmatized, based upon the activities of one bad day in their life, to follow them the rest of their lives.

So that’s what we’re trying to do here at OJJDP, along with lots of other measures that we’re trying to implement. And Brittany, we greatly appreciate your participation. What message do you have for other young people out there who may be in the same kind of situation you’re in, or may want to get into this national discussion?

Brittany: My message to anybody out there who feels like it can’t happen for you, who feels like you can’t go to college, who feels like genuine relationships where you feel loved aren’t possible for you, I sit here today to tell you that they are. It took a lot of work. I think there is this thing called personal accountability that you have to take. But I also think that, again, it’s about taking those folks at their word who say they want to be there for you.

For young folk who feel like they’re caught in the rat race of the system, or feel like they don’t have a voice, or who feel silenced, I sit here as an example that that is not the case. [With regard to] the academic steps that I took to go to school, I recognize that those are hard. There are days when you get it; there are days when you don’t. But recognize that that’s a very normal thing and that you’re no different than anybody else, no matter how many times people try to make you feel that way—that you’re less than or that you don’t count. Understand that you do, and that, beyond any governmental effort that is put out there for you, understand that in your personal life—if you take nothing else—that these are just surface-level things, but in your personal life, you do matter.

And every day, try to remember or try to imagine—for me, it was my imagination. On days where I felt dark and days where I felt like, you know, sitting in the principal’s office thinking that I was about to go to jail or I was going to turn out like my parents—as a lot of folks told me—I would sit and I would envision a day where I was walking across the high school stage, let alone a college stage. And so understand that if you can see it, if you can imagine it, as cliché as it may sound, it’s something that can happen for you.

Administrator Listenbee: Well thank you so much for joining us here at OJJDP today. We really appreciate your message.