Download the PDF: What Would it Take to Be Number One 2015

While there were a few bright spots, it was a tough year for racial equity and opportunity at the legislature. Lawmakers passed policies that will limit opportunities for many Arkansas families. They also failed to pass policies that would have given more Arkansans a chance to thrive and succeed in the future. These policies affect […]

This legislative session, like many others before it, had its ups and downs. The children and families of Arkansas won some, but suffered some major losses as well. The Private Option, Arkansas’s version of Medicaid expansion, will continue to provide health coverage for low-income Arkansans, at least through 2016. However, changes are likely on the horizon. Our state’s […]

Each year, law enforcement action is taken in more than 3,000 incidents in Arkansas schools. Just last month, 12 students were arrested at a single Pine Bluff high school, allegedly after a fight. All students were between 14 and 15 years old and each was charged with disorderly conduct. There were no reports of weapons or serious […]

Juvenile detention – the short-term involuntary holding of juveniles – is often the gateway to longer-term incarceration. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI), the appropriate purpose of detention is to ensure that youth appear for court hearings and do not re-offend while awaiting their adjudication hearing. However, in practice, […]

Across the state, officers of the law protect Arkansas children from significant threats, but what happens when police are charged with the task of enforcing the law and school policy on school grounds? Morganne Sample, who completed a summer internship program with AACF, delves into that question in this issue brief.

This publication describes how far Arkansas has come in reforming the juvenile justice system and lays out a plan for moving forward. The state’s laws, regulations, and practices must align with its commitment to a system of juvenile justice that will effectively serve youth for the long term. A thoughtful, engaged, and community-driven approach can […]

This publication talks about how locking up non-violent youthful offenders is costly and ineffective. Using community-based alternatives to incarceration – like education, job training, drug treatment, and rehabilitation programs – saves the state $41,786 per youth and reduces their chances of ending up back in the juvenile justice system.

The National Center for Youth Law and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency recently released Arkansas Youth Justice: The Architecture of Reform. The report details efforts to transform the juvenile justice system in Arkansas. The gist? Efforts by government officials, advocates, judges, service providers, youth, and their families have reduced the state’s reliance on secure confinement […]

During the past three years Arkansas has created a task force of stakeholders, commissioned a comprehensive review of its juvenile justice system, developed a vision and set long-term goals for system change, and held regional meetings to discuss the comprehensive strategy for making changes and reforming the state’s approach to juvenile justice. These include redirecting […]