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Sample Materials:
Juvenile Facility Visit
Community Leader Invite Letter
Dear Juvenile
Facility Director,
We
are writing to request your participation in a community dialogue
about about how Latino and Latina youth are treated in the juvenile
justice system.
This dialogue
is part of a national effort to eliminate the disparate treatment
of Latino and Latina youth in the justice system. According
to a new report, “¿Dónde Está La
Justicia?” released by the Building Blocks for Youth initiative,
a national project led by the Youth Law Center to promote a
fair and effective youth justice system, Latino youth are and
Latina youth are incarcerated at higher rates, receive longer
sentences and harsher treatment than white youth even when charged
with the same types of offenses. Current data means for collecting
and assessing data are inadequate, resulting in under-counting
and inaccuracies in reporting disproportionate representation
and disparate treatment of Latino and Latina youth in the U.S
justice system. The system fails to provide adequate bilingual
services to Latino and Latina youth and fails to ensure cultural
competency of staff working with Latino and Latina youth in
the system. Consideration of the immigration status of Latino
and Latina youth results in incarceration, deportation and permanent
separation from families. Anti-gang laws result in harsh and
unfair consequences for Latino and Latina youth.
We would like to bring a small group of 20-30 community leaders
to the facility to talk with your staff, and the youth residents
at the facility on [insert date] from [insert time]. We are
especially interested in talking with you, your staff, and youth
residents about how we can increase our community’s involvement,
resources, and assets to support Latino and Latina youth at
your facility. For the visit, we would like to briefly walk
through the facility as a young person enters starting at the
intake area, screening, medical, and orientation, and then to
the living quarters, recreation, school and other program areas,
and then to observe any disciplinary areas or isolation rooms.
To facilitate our dialogue with your staff and the youth residents,
we would suggest sharing a light snack in the dining hall as
part of the agenda. We will not ask youth information about
their identities or the charges against them.
Your participation
is essential to this dialogue, especially as we consider how
to eliminate disparate treatment of Latino and Latina youth
in the justice system; improve services to Latino and Latina
youth; and increase our community’s involvement, resources,
and assets to support Latino and Latina youth in the juvenile
justice system.
In preparation
for this dialogue, we’ve enclosed a copy of the executive
summary of the report, “¿Dónde Está
La Justicia?” We are available at your convenience to
talk with you in advance of the visit, and will follow-up with
you to confirm our plans. In the meantime, we can be contacted
at [insert phone numbers]. We look forward to talking with you.
Thank you
for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
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