Incarcerated Youth

Terrilyn Chun

Toan Lam-Sullivan

Monique Lloyd

Max Macias

"In 2003 there were 97,000 juvenile offenders held in residential facilities. This translates to 307 offenders for every 100,000 juveniles in the population."

http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/nr2006/

Serving Incarcerated Youth

• Characterized primarily by their confinement

• Their access to the ITP is limited by several factors– Economic– Political– Cultural

Information Needs

• Literacy– Action fiction and graphic novels

• Parenting skills/concepts

• Technology training

ITP for Incarcerated Youth

• Restricted constitutional rights– Prisoners have limited rights

• Format restrictions– No magazines– No hardbacks

• Limited access to computers– Costs limit what can be purchased– Limited access to the Internet

En Loco Parentis

• Parent is not present to make decision

• Librarian, Committee, or institution must make decision about what is appropriate

• Policies must take this into consideration Whereas the public library seeks to provide free access—services to incarcerated youth have limits built in

Diffusion

• Limited by abilities to read

• Book talks help introduce

• Reading/discussion groups create diffusion

• Work with educational system to increase reading abilities and discussion

Motivation

• Create Library Committees– This will create a sense of ownership– Preparation for real-world interactions

• Create newsletter– Learn how to write with discipline, deadlines

• Create a blog – This could also create ownership, pride, and

motivation for more writing

Hennepin Co. Outreach Results

Results cont…

Results cont…

Why are they underserved?

• Limited funding

• Library programs and services…

• They should be locked up and ignored.

• Youths are severely restricted

• Correctional staff not the friendliest

Librarians must be tough and

adaptable like a chameleon

Being locked up is stressful

and lifeless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr06ysyBX7A

Writing classes:

Journal

Drawing classes:

Computer classes:

Reading classes:

• Open funding account

• Return to normal life quickly

• Donald E. Long Home (DELH)

• Ages12-18 years

• Offenses include assault, rape, burglary, car jacking

• Terms range from a few days to several months

• 80 youth at a time; 1,300 individuals per year

Case study: Multnomah County Library Juvenile Justice Outreach

• Program began in 1996; LSTA grant• Full-time JJ outreach coordinator; volunteer• Department of Justice pays 1/3; Library pays

remaining costs• Dedicated collection; budget to buy books • Weekly library• Classroom visits• Book discussions• Programming

Library services at the Donald E. Long Home

• DELH is very progressive, known • nationally for its approach for

treatment and rehabilitation• Library staff vs. custody staff

How it compares to other western states: King County (Washington), California

• Make available materials that meet the educational, recreational, information and cultural needs of detained youth

• Aid the Juvenile Justice Department in the

rehabilitation, school completion and eventual

successful re-entry into the community by the youth

Goals

• Librarian selects• Useful and popular • Standard review media• School Library Journal• Booklist• American Library Association (ALA) lists

of best books for ages 12-18.

Selection policy

• Materials should reflect racial and ethnic interests• Be appropriate for various level of competency • Requests from the youth, recommendations from

the staff

Special consideration is given to information, life experiences and characterization for this special population

• Gang-related material• Hate literature• Excessive violence• Explicit sexual content • Materials that constitute a threat to the

safety of the residents and staff and the security of the institution

• Exceptions: Materials with historic, cultural, and/or social value, which may be approved by the review committee.

Materials not allowed

• Custody services staff, MCL staff, Multnomah Education Services District staff

• The American Library Association stringently and unequivocally maintains that libraries and librarians have an obligation to resist efforts that systematically exclude materials dealing any subject matter, including gender, sexual orientation, and religion

Role and membership of the Review Committee

• Loss of library privileges

• Confinement in room

• Restitution such as erasing project

Destruction of library materials

• Reading grades given by teachers

• Survey of how much the kids read before they came in versus after (three books per

week versus three books per year)

Current evaluation of program

• Involving youth more• Reading incentive program to increase comprehension

(Accelerated Reading Program at Illinois Youth Center)• Monitored computer/Internet access• Follow-up services, transitioning back to the outside• Larger space for collection, activities, office space• Part-time assistant

Suggested improvements to this service

• Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grants, corporate, private funding, library funding (long term)

• Schools, school districts, school-to-work programs, vocational schools

Funding and partners for additional services

• Reading comprehension scores• Number of youth who get library cards and use

them after leaving• Number of youth who participate in summer

reading program• How many books read after leaving• Maintaining reading comprehension, skills

Evaluation of additional services

Going Behind the Bars: Providing Library Service to Incarcerated Youth

http://ccb.lis.uiuc.edu/Projects/youth/breakfree/index.html

Young Adult Library Services AssociationServing Teens Behind Bars Blog

http://blogs.ala.org/yalsa.php?title=serving_teens_behind_bars&more=1&tb=1&pb=1

State of the City's Homeless Youth Report: Incarcerated Youth;

http://www.empirestatecoalition.org/rincarcerated.html

Questions?