"Crossover" Children in the Youth Justice and Child Protection Systems explores the outcomes faced by the group of children who experience involvement with both child protection and youth justice systems across several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Situated against a backdrop of international evidence and grounded in a two-year study with the Children’s Court in Victoria, Australia, this book presents a cohesive picture of the backgrounds, characteristics, and pathways traversed by crossover children. It presents statistical data from 300 crossover Children’s Court case files, alongside the expert evidence of 82 professionals, to generate a comprehensive picture of the lives of crossover children, and the individual and systemic challenges that they face. The book investigates the crucial question of why some children involved with child welfare systems experience particularly poor criminal justice outcomes, demonstrating how the convergence of cumulative childhood adversity, complex support needs, and systemic disadvantage produces acutely damaging outcomes for some crossover youth. It outlines the implications of the study, including how these findings might shape diversion and differential justice system responses to child protection-involved youth, and the innovative approaches adopted internationally to avert the care to custody pathway. This book is internationally relevant and will be of great interest to students and scholars of criminology and law, social work, psychology, and sociology, as well as legal, welfare, and government agencies and policy developers, non-government peak bodies and services, professional probation services, case managers, health and mental health services, disability and drug treatment agencies, and others who work with both young offenders and the design and implementation of policy and legislation.

This book is an examination of recent developments in the areas of youth justice and child protection. It investigates how well young people and the societies in which they live are served by judicial and service systems. Consideration is given to those in care - in young offenders' institutions, foster families and residential homes - as well as those living with their families. A broad range of international experts discuss the largely segregated youth justice and children's legal and service systems in England and Wales, other parts of Western Europe and the US, and compare these with Scotland's integrated system. The implications of these arrangements are considered for the rights of children and parents on the one hand and society on the other. The contributors also provide insights into the rationale for current and proposed policies, as well as the efficacy of different systems. This book will be an important reference for policy-makers, social workers, lawyers, magistrates and equivalent decision makers, health professionals, carers, and all those working in youth justice and child protection. It is highly relevant for academics and students interested in children, citizenship, youth crime, child welfare and state-family relations.

The over-representation of children from child protection backgrounds in the youth justice system is a significant and longstanding concern. While the association between child maltreatment and youth offending is established, the pathway of child protection-involved youth to criminal justice outcomes has received little attention. This paper presents selected findings of a detailed case file audit of 300 crossover children appearing before the Victorian Children's Court in 2016-17. Findings explore children's exposure to maltreatment and other adversity, as well as their child protection involvement, co-occurring challenges, offending and sentencing outcomes. The risk factors for earlier and more serious offending are also examined. Results indicate that crossover children present with more serious offending profiles than other court-involved children. The findings emphasise the need to prevent, divert and respond to crossover children's criminal justice contact.

Understanding reentry experiences after incarceration Prison in the United States often has a revolving door, with droves of formerly incarcerated people ultimately finding themselves behind bars again. In Beyond Recidivism, Andrea Leverentz, Elsa Y. Chen, and Johnna Christian bring together a leading group of interdisciplinary scholars to examine this phenomenon using several approaches to research on recently released prisoners returning to their lives. They focus on the social context of reentry and look at the stories returning prisoners tell, including such key issues as when they choose to reveal (or not) their criminal histories. Drawing on contemporary studies, contributors examine the best ideas that have emerged over the last decade to understanding the challenges prisoners face upon reentering society. Together, they present a complete picture of prisoner reentry, including real-world recommendations for policies to ensure the well-being of returning prisoners, regardless of their past mistakes.

The over-representation of children from child protection backgrounds in the youth justice system is a significant and longstanding concern. While the association between child maltreatment and youth offending is established, the pathway of child protection-involved youth to criminal justice outcomes has received little attention. This paper presents selected findings of a detailed case file audit of 300 crossover children appearing before the Victorian Children's Court in 2016-17.

Within a historical and contemporary context, this book examines major policy practice and research issues as they jointly shape child welfare practice and its future. In addition to describing the major problems facing the field, the book highlights service innovations that have been developed in recent years. The resulting picture is encouraging, especially if certain major program reforms I are implemented and agencies are able to concentrate resources in a focused manner. The volume emphasizes families and children whose primary recourse to services has been through publicly funded child welfare agencies. The book considers historical areas of service—foster care and adoptions, in-home family-centered services, child-protective services, and residential services—where social work has an important role. Authors address the many fields of practice in which child and family services are provided or that involve substantial numbers of social work programs, such as services to adolescent parents, child mental health, education, and juvenile justice agencies. This new edition will continue to serve as a fundamen­tal introduction for new practitioners, as well as summary of recent developments for experienced practitioners.

Provides a balanced critical analysis of the child welfare system along with promising innovations Distinguished by its critical perspective, this book delivers a balanced and comprehensive examination of the child welfare system in the United States today. In a clear and accessible style, it outlines key issues, reviews the history of the child welfare system, and explores the challenges to developing appropriate federal, state and local policies that address child welfare concerns. A chapter devoted to innovative and effective child welfare and prevention practices showcases examples of successful programs. Additionally, the book underscores the importance of coordination among human service professionals and organizations. The text addresses issues related to the educational system, homelessness, poverty, the juvenile justice system, foster care, and adoption. It incorporates the perspectives of parents and children involved in the system, who cite both positive experiences and bureaucratic challenges. Child welfare workers themselves describe the professional and personal realities of their experiences working within the system. Illustrative case examples of abused and neglected children add to the text’s value for BSW and MSW students studying child welfare. Key Features: Provides a comprehensive overview of child welfare issues in the United States today Offers case examples of abused/neglected children and their families Includes the perspectives of parents and children involved with the child welfare system Incorporates the views of child welfare workers Provides examples of innovative practices in child welfare