WCCF has just released a policy brief titled We Can Do Better: Sharing Responsibility to Better Meet the Needs of Dual-Status Youth that outlines some of the challenges children and youth face if/when they end up identified by/involved with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

We know that a supportive and nurturing environment is the solid foundation on which a successful future is built for our children and youth. Children and youth who have been abused or neglected have a faulty foundation that affects their physical, social, emotional, and neurological development. Too often the stage is set for behaviors that place them at much higher risk of involvement in the juvenile justice system – sometimes at the same time as already being involved in the child welfare system. The brief outlines some of the best practices that are emerging around the country on how to make sure that no matter what “door” the child/youth enters they get the services they need and that when youth are involved in more than one system, those systems are working together toward common positive outcomes.

Too often our systems work side-by-side with the same youth/family, sometimes going in different directions and all too often looking at issues through a different lens. We can and need to do better.

by Jim Moeser