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The Emmanuel Research Review is a publication of the Emmanuel Gospel Center, and features articles, papers, resources, and information that we believe are helpful and relevant to urban pastors, leaders, and community members in their efforts to serve their communities effectively. |
Introduced by Brian Corcoran
Research Associate, Emmanuel
Gospel Center
Managing Editor, Emmanuel Research Review
As always, we welcome your feedback!
by Kalya Hamlett Murray, Project Director, The Girls’ Initiative
As more and more girls are getting into trouble, “Making girls a priority before their numbers increase to the level of male juvenile delinquents represents a proactive rather than reactive way of addressing the problem,” (Greene, et al., 1998, p. 43). According to Citizens for Juvenile Justice, the number of girls arrested tripled between 1991 and 2001. DYS data marked the peak in the number of girls committed to DYS, which rose 300% from 124 to 514 in 2003. While these sharp increases may have leveled off recently, trends have not gone back to pre-1990s levels.
Traditionally, the number of girls entering state systems and becoming involved in the juvenile justice system has been significantly lower than that of boys, relegating the need to focus on girls to the bottom of the list. Most agencies concentrated their attention on the boys, often prescribing the same approach for girls.
The Girls’ Initiative is excited about the release of the Report on High Risk Girls and Gender-Specific Programming. This report represents best practice research and six years of network learning to provide gender-responsive services to girls, based on their socio-emotional development and the unique needs.
It has been our experience (research supported) that girls entering our programs and state agencies are entering for a variety of reasons that may not be addressed, based on the “cookie cutter” programs and facilities created for boys. For true connection and rehabilitation of girls, programs and services should be gender responsive, addressing the distinct needs of the whole girl. For example, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, girls are three times more likely to have a history of sexual abuse, an underlying factor in delinquency that may not be identified or addressed if the intake does not ask the proper questions. We hope that the report will be utilized by state, community, and faith-based agencies who service high risk and system-involved girls to promote positive outcomes and reduce recidivism rates for this population.
In 2003 the Hyams Foundation, in response to the growing number of girls entering the juvenile justice system, began Girls’ Initiative. The Girls’ Initiative is a network of agencies providing services to high risk and system-involved girls. The member agencies are Generation Excel, ROCA Inc., Roxbury Youthworks, Inc. Youth Advocacy Project, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Boston Urban Youth Foundation and Ella J. Baker House. The goal of the initiative is to promote positive outcomes for high risk and system-involved girls, and to reduce the recidivism rate of girls. During the last six years, the network met regularly as a learning community to share trends, interventions, prevention strategies, and to collaborate and advocate on behalf of high risk and system-involved girls. From the meetings emerged an overwhelming desire to share the message that Girls have unique needs that require gender-responsive services to positively affect change in their lives.
Greene, Peters, & Associates. (October 1998). Guiding Principles for Promising Female Programming: An Inventory of Best Practices. United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC.
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Click here to download a PDF of the Prologue and Executive Summary (338 KB)
Click here to download a PDF of the full report (6 MB).
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