News & Events

Strategies for Youth (SFY) is one of the few organizations in the country focused on the true front door of the juvenile justice system: interactions between youth and law enforcement officers. Recently, SFY published a collection of model policies for departments to use in making those interactions safer and more productive.

SFY’s Shelley Jackson, who spent decades working on guidance and policy for the federal government, joins us to describe these model policies and how they came together.

Quote of the Show:
“We have to educate the kids and we have to educate law enforcement. And you gain legitimacy with both groups if you tell one you’re training the other.” – Lisa Thurau

Strategies for Youth endorses the statement issued today by three advocacy organizations about the harm of unjust prosecutions of Black youth, and joins them in their call for immediate reforms, including legislation and law enforcement policies prohibiting the arrest of children. In view of the selective enforcement of law, the urgency of these reforms is all the more necessary to protect Black children from becoming unnecessarily system-involved.

Listen to Shelley Jackson speak about the need for and purpose of SFY’s 12 Model Law Enforcement Policies for Interactions with Youth in an interview with Stevie Bridgewaters on her Washington Report.

In the 2nd part of our podcast, we discuss law enforcement interaction with youth with our guest Lisa Thurau from Strategies for Youth. 90% of the offenses committed by youth are non-violent, but police are not trained to respond appropriately to youth offenders, who are developmentally different from adult offenders. SFY provides education and trainings to police and communities about how to appropriately interact with youth.

How should police handle it when young people commit crimes? A new poll by Strategies for Youth finds the majority of Americans believe there should be alternatives to being arrested.

Washington, D.C. Even though most U.S. law enforcement agencies lack any guidelines about how to interact, interrogate, or arrest young people, 56% of Americans think agencies “probably” have written policies for youth interactions, a disconnect that leaves police, citizens, and communities vulnerable, according to Strategies for Youth (SFY), a national nonprofit training and policy organization dedicated to improving interactions between police and young people.

Bismark, ND. Bismarck Police Department policy and procedures regarding the use of deadly force are based on state law and U.S. Supreme Court decisions, not a suspect’s age, a spokesman said in the wake of a weekend incident in which officers shot and killed a teenager. The death of 17-year-old Nicholas Bruington early Sunday has prompted questions from some members of the public about why officers didn’t use less-than-lethal measures. There also has been plenty of support for officers who face difficult situations.

A new report from the non-profit Strategies for Youth calls for a wholesale re-evaluation of how America’s law enforcement agencies deal with children and teenagers. Executive Director Lisa Thurau is Jim’s guest on “The Final 5.”