Page 16 - Delaware Lawyer - Spring 2022

FEATURE
to Teen Justice
Laura Bower Braunsberg
A Collaborative Approach
An updated snapshot of juvenile justice needs, procedures and resources
In spring 2006, Commissioner Loretta Young of the Family Court authored an article titled “Juvenile Legal, Clinical, and System Issues” that offered a summary of issues facing juvenile justice courts at the time.1 The article highlighted three critical needs for the juvenile justice system: front-end analysis of competency in juvenile prosecutions, ongoing cross- systems approach to competency and mental health issues in delinquent juveniles, and high-quality treatment facilities for teens with profound, long-term mental disabilities.
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Now, 16 years later, the specialty courts that Commissioner Young and others have taken a lead role
in spearheading in the Family Court have been targeting the issues she identified. These three key issues — analysis, continuous collaboration and therapeutic resources — remain
critical areas of focus for the just and effective implementation of ju- venile delinquency prosecutions. By focusing on these issues in specialty courts, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its justice partners have been able to expand on our approach to prosecuting delinquency. Having
PHOTO BY SEAN O’SULLIVAN