Humane Exposures Blog

As we prepare for the start of 2013 Humane Exposures is proud to announce that our work has received a Mom’s Choice Award – Gold in nonfiction!

It is our sincerest hope that we are able to inspire many to become that “one good enough adult” in some child’s life: that single person whose support can make all the difference in the future when it counts the most.

The plight of our nation’s children is one that should be at the forefront of our minds in the coming year. Let us make 2013 the year when we quit squandering lives and tax dollars, the year when we enact fact-based strategies that prove far more effective than our current tactic of simply throwing people behind bars.

Born, Not Raised shows the effects of juvenile incarceration, while sharing a wealth of data showing how we can drastically improve the lot of children in the system. Take a look at the trailer for the book; it only takes two minutes of your time.

Related articles

• National Juvenile Justice Network to Host Webinar with Rosa Peralta of TeamChild (humaneexposures.com)
• County awarded $1.3M to aid youths (toledoblade.com)
• Juvenile Prison Guard’s Savage Attack On 15-Year-Old Girl Caught On Camera (newsone.com)
• Crossover Youth (humaneexposures.com)
• Justice isn’t served when offenders under 16 are treated as adults (newsobserver.com)

English: Google+ wordmark (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the battle against homelessness we are always on the lookout for new tools. Anything that can help to generate discussion and hopefully action needs to be investigated, especially in the rapidly growing world of social media.

Information is vital. There are lots of hysterical and histrionic “facts” bandied about on these topics. The “tough on crime” stance is a great example of this. Harsher laws and penalties seem like a logical step to take in attempting to reduce crime, but the empirical evidence accumulated over the past decade or so shows that the opposite is true.

The sharing of actual facts and generation of productive discussion, and eventually action, is vital if we are going to fix those aspects of our society that are broken. With that in mind we are doing the best we can to mobilize the technology available in order to effect these changes.

Earlier this week Google debuted a new tool that looks very promising in this regard: Google+ Communities. Thought by many to be their version of the now familiar Facebook groups, the communities allow you to follow a topic rather than just friending an individual.

So today we debut our newest tools in the ongoing battle for reform: Homelessness in America and Juvenile Justice in America. These two public communities are open to any and all with an interest and hopefully will help us move the conversation forward on these important topics.

The evidence is there. In both of these cases there is a common thread – too much money is being spent to too little effect. While boatloads of cash are being funneled out of state and federal budgets in order to fight the problems, it is almost always being spent recklessly and with little result.

While millions are spent on incarceration, rehabilitative programs with proven effectiveness are sidelined, costing the state far more over the long run and doing little to reduce recidivism. Millions more are spent on short-term solutions for the homeless, but comparatively little on programs that will give them the skills they need to rejoin society and embrace a better life.

The cure is accurate and applied information, but info does nothing when no one is aware of it. Please join us in our new communities and be part of the solution.

Related articles

• Google Launches Its Answer To Facebook Groups: Google+ Communities (marketingland.com)
• Homelessness statistics (itv.com)
• Fewer homeless vets this year, but advocacy group sees ‘alarming’ rise in younger ex-service members (usnews.nbcnews.com)
• Google+ Communities: The Last Nail in Facebook’s Coffin (socialmediatoday.com)

Related articles

• The Shocking Details of a Mississippi School-to-Prison Pipeline (colorlines.com)
• Hollywood Producer Re-envisions Juvenile Justice (humaneexposures.com)
• Have Conservatives Really Seen the Light on Mass Incarceration? (counterpunch.org)
• Back on Track after Being Behind Bars (ed.gov)

The Mid-Winter holidays are coming soon. In a mere matter of weeks there will be celebrations of Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Yule, Festivus, and Solistice celebrations as well as many others. Almost all belief systems have a common thread: a celebration of light, goodwill and prosperity during the darkest part of the year.

While we sip cider and buttered rum, gather around the menora to light Hanukkah candles, or otherwise share the season with out fiends and relations, there are others who just want a place out of the bitter wind. Of those existing without a roof during this celebration of plenty, far too many of them are children.

While some children are nestled all snug in their beds, there are no visions of sugarplums dancing in the heads of their counterparts. Instead there is the shivering and fearful uncertainty of the child on the streets. (In case you have not noticed, it is cold out there!) To make matters worse, their numbers are increasing every day.

Pete Golis of the Press Democrat took notice of this in a recent column:

When I wrote last Christmas about homeless youngsters, there was hope that an improving economy might begin to reduce the number of young people at risk.

But workers on the front lines say the number of kids living on the street is getting bigger, not smaller. The most recent one-day survey counted 701 unaccompanied homeless youngsters in Sonoma County, plus 190 homeless families with children under 18.

The actual numbers are higher. There is simply no way for aid workers and volunteers to track all the young people being bounced from place to place, or all the young people who may be homeless at some time during the year.

At every agency that exists to help people in trouble, the story is the same: Hard times continue to grind away at job seekers and the people who rely on them for shelter and food.

How would you feel if one of your own children was sleeping under a bridge with cardboard for a blanket and one eye open out of fear? Consider it for a moment. No matter which seasonal holiday you adhere to, this is wrong and against the holiday spirit.

Lisa Fatu, a street outreach coordinator for Social Advocates for Youth, comments in the article about the effect of poverty on these populations. She points out that poverty also contributes to and exacerbates other causes of homelessness. Alcohol and drug addition, family violence and depression are frequent responses to deprivation. People “self medicate” or misdirect their anger a those around them when they feel boxed in. All these behaviors can combine with the current economy to put a family out of the streets.

I agree with Mr. Golis when he says:

At Christmastime or any time, it’s not acceptable that hundreds of kids are on the street. Children without a safe place to stay are more likely to be sick or injured, and more likely to be victims of a crime. They are more likely to fail in school, more likely to suffer depression and less likely to have friends.

The stabbing death last month of a 24-year-old homeless woman, Michela Anne Wooldridge, testifies to the risks young people face on the streets.

The realities of the street are harsh, especially for children. As we begin the yearly celebrations consider taking some time to help improve their lot. Mentoring and Big Brother programs are one way in which you can help. This is the time of life when kids develop the habits, skills, and reactions that will be with them for the rest of their lives. Embrace the generosity of the season and help give these young ones a chance at a better future.

Related articles

• 20 Facts About Hunger In America That Will Blow Your Mind (blacklistednews.com)
• Apartments.com Extends Invitation for America to “LIKE” Them to Help End Homelessness (virtual-strategy.com)
• Event brings awareness to hunger and homeless in the Chippewa Valley (weau.com)
• Jeff Bridges: A hunger to help kids (variety.com)

If you try to stay up to date on juvenile justice issues you may well have run across the term “crossover youth.” These are the young people who have had interactions with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

It is a term I welcome because it shows an increased awareness of the inextricable links between abuse and neglect in a child’s early home life (the lack of “one good enough adult” to make a difference) and delinquency later in life.

Brian Goldstein makes some great arguments for an integrated approach that addresses this relationship. As a member of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ)‘s policy team with an expertise on political trends in criminal justice reform, he is well suited to offer commentary.

In a recent column for the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange he offered the following:

The crossover population represents a unique challenge for both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. A 2001 study by the Vera Institute of Justice found the likelihood of detention for foster youth awaiting trial for misdemeanors or minor felonies was 10 percent higher than non-foster care youth. Moreover, they frequently suffer amid a compartmentalization of system care and oversight. For example, juveniles who make contact with the justice system may lose access to welfare services and their respective case manager, resulting in a disruption to their therapeutic services.

The long-term consequences for crossover youth are significant with many suffering higher incidence of drug use and exacerbated mental illness. The aforementioned study of LA County also found that crossover youth have a higher recidivism rate than non-crossover youth, and more than 30 percent have new maltreatment referrals following their arrest. These young people may not only commit offenses as adults, but may well perpetuate the cycle of maltreatment as parents.

There is a big picture here, one we have tried to show you in our documentary and our books. So much hangs on the experiences of early life. This is why it is important to address the causes rather than just the symptoms. Fortunately the idea of a multidisciplinary approach to these issues seems to be taking root.

At Georgetown University’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform they have developed The Crossover Youth Practice Model, a model currently in use at 11 jurisdictions across the United States.

One of the core features of the model is to encourage multi-agency collaboration across the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Coordinated case management and supervision encourage family engagement, which is vital. This approach helps to impede the course so many children follow between the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system. Closer to home, California’s Sierra Health Foundation has been making similar multidisciplinary strides at the county level through their Positive Youth Justice Initiative.

This is not a buzzword. It is an idea that needs more attention.

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Danielle Steel's signature (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Whether you read her stuff or not, I’m willing to bet you know the name Danielle Steel. Her amazing years of output have made her one of the top-selling authors of all time. Today we are going to take a look at a side of Danielle Steel that is far from the bodice-ripping imagery oft associated with her.

Unbeknownst to her fans, Steel has been leading a Batman-like double life since 1998. That was when she started her late-night forays into San Francisco’s homeless scene, driving a van full of supplies.

In Newsweek Magazine’s The Daily Beast she shares her reasoning, showing once more that the situation changes when you put a human face on it:

It’s easy to say “they should clean up and get a job.” When was the last time you hired a homeless person, or even stopped to help one? Homelessness is primarily a mental-health issue, of mentally ill people not receiving adequate treatment, and there are not enough in-patient facilities to house and treat them.

I carry the people I met on the streets in my memory forever. I never ask how they got there; it’s none of my business. They’re already in distress and pain; they don’t need to be humiliated, too. I remember the 21-year-old girl I met on my first night. She was sleeping on a piece of cardboard, under a thin tattered blanket, on a freezing cold night. She was undergoing chemotherapy for a brain tumor, and died a year later. I remember the woman who began life on the streets in a flowered silk dress and a string of fake pearls; she eventually lost all her teeth, one leg, and is now unrecognizable, but always kind and polite when I see her. There was the man in the pin-striped suit with shined shoes, who looked like your banker and was living in a sleeping bag on the library steps, while interviewing for jobs in Silicon Valley; he had lost his job as CFO, his marriage and his money. I remember the barefoot people on freezing nights, the ones in T shirts plastered to their bodies in the pouring rain, the pregnant girls suffering from malnutrition and the teenage boy I saw just before Christmas, sitting in a doorway in the driving rain. He was delirious from fever, with scabs all over his face, and had recently lost a leg. How can we turn away?

While many celebraties use their fame to draw attention to issues like these, Steel has actively fought to remain anonymous during her late night missions. Instead she poured her own significant finances into the effort.

What had its beginnings as one woman with a van grew, at it’s height, to a team of 11, including three off-duty police officers who helped to keep them out of dicey situations. At it’s most active point the group, now named Yo! Angel!, distributed 300 bags of food, long johns, ponchos, and teddy bears. The author estimates that each run cost $100,000 for a whopping $1.1 million each year, all of which she paid for out of her own pocket.

The author’s observation about homelessness and mental illness speaks directly to the need for therapeutic and substance abuse programs. So many of those on the streets suffer from these issues, most especially the chronic homeless.

As we move into this holiday which celebrates plenty, let us consider those who have nothing. It is our responsibility to our fellow humans that makes it imperative that we effect a major state change in the way that we handle this forgotten population. On both the state and the federal levels we must not falter in our push for more effective rehabilitation programs.

Not only is it in the spirit of the season, but it is also much more expensive in both lives and money if we do nothing.