Josh Crawford Talks Robbery, Homicide, Pro Criminals and more with Leland Conway.
As juvenile crime has skyrocketed across the nation following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, state lawmakers are looking to pass laws to curb rising youth violence and lawlessness.
Juvenile homicides nationwide increased by 44% from 2019 to 2020 and increased by 83% from 2013 to 2020, according to data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, as school closures and police reforms have contributed to rising youth crime. Lawmakers in Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and New Jersey have introduced bills to implement measures such as penalty enhancements for juvenile gang members, as well as mandatory holding periods for juveniles charged with violent crimes, to address the rising violence.
“The year 2020 saw a reversal of decades-long reductions in juvenile violent crime,” Josh Crawford, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives at the Georgia Center for Opportunity, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Kids not being in school due to government shutdowns and reductions in proactive policing during COVID-19 played a role.”
As juvenile crime has skyrocketed across the nation following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, state lawmakers are looking to pass laws to curb rising youth violence and lawlessness.
Juvenile homicides nationwide increased by 44% from 2019 to 2020 and increased by 83% from 2013 to 2020, according to data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, as school closures and police reforms have contributed to rising youth crime. Lawmakers in Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and New Jersey have introduced bills to implement measures such as penalty enhancements for juvenile gang members, as well as mandatory holding periods for juveniles charged with violent crimes, to address the rising violence.
“The year 2020 saw a reversal of decades-long reductions in juvenile violent crime,” Josh Crawford, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives at the Georgia Center for Opportunity, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Kids not being in school due to government shutdowns and reductions in proactive policing during COVID-19 played a role.”
The campaign aims to address existing biases and create a sustainable impact on the health and well-being of the community and its residents.
Breaking the cycle of recidivism is a critical issue in many communities across the United States. The Mayor’s Commission on Reentry in Columbus, Georgia is taking a multi-pronged approach to address this problem, with a mission to prevent recidivism by strengthening cooperation and collaboration among law enforcement agencies, corrections and supervision entities, resource agencies, social service and non-profit organizations, community members, and other private and public stakeholders.
The Georgia Center for Opportunity’s BETTER WORK Columbus program director, Kristin Barker, is leading this effort, serving as the chair of the Reentry Commission. “We have developed subcommittees to focus on priority areas that will provide the greatest impact for the reentry population in our community,” Kristin explains. “These areas are employment, housing and connectivity of resources.”
One project that recently launched through the employment subcommittee is the FREE THE FUTURE campaign. The initiative is aimed at educating private employers on the value of Second Chance hiring. Many people who exit incarceration after serving their time are eager to start afresh, but they face significant challenges in finding suitable housing and jobs that pay a livable wage. Often, they have outstanding fines and fees that they are unable to pay without a steady income. The inability to find good employment quickly leads to a cycle of recidivism, which is hard to break.
The mission of BETTER WORK is to support the underserved in our communities and promote their long-term success. The FREE THE FUTURE campaign in Columbus is a key part of this effort, designed to challenge false narratives that hold people back from making positive life changes. The campaign aims to address existing biases and create a sustainable impact on the health and well-being of the community and its residents.
The FREE THE FUTURE campaign is easily accessible through Facebook, Instagram, and its website. Monthly meetings of the Mayor’s Commission on Reentry are open to the public, and many community organizations attend these meetings to become more educated and engaged with reentry in Muscogee County.
FREE THE FUTURE campaign is aimed at educating private employers on the value of Second Chance hiring.
FREE THE FUTURE campaign is aimed at educating private employers on the value of Second Chance hiring.
Key partners in this initiative include BETTER WORK Columbus, Urban League of the River Valley, United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley – Home for Good, SafeHouse Ministries, Southern Center for Human Rights, Muscogee County Sheriff’s Department, Georgia Department of Corrections, Department of Community Supervision, and NewLife-Second Chance Outreach.
To learn more about this campaign, click here, or access the information via Facebook and Instagram. Monthly meetings of the Mayor’s Commission on Reentry are open to the public, and many community organizations attend these meetings to become more educated and engaged with reentry in Muscogee County.
With Georgia placing among the top four states with the highest rates of incarceration, one advocate for criminal justice reform is using his personal experience to help other formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate into their communities.
For Tony Kitchens, Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) Field Director of Prison Fellowship and board member, reentering society after his incarceration was not a smooth transition.
“My greatest challenge was not doing the 11 years in prison, it was living as a marginalized citizen for over 29 years as a result of these tough-on-crime policies,” Kitchens said.
In 1974, Kitchens was incarcerated for a relatively minor offense. Kitchens said that in the 1970s, the criminal justice system “was all about punishment, it was all about lock them up and throw away the key.” At the time, reform efforts were not even a consideration and reentry services were virtually nonexistent.
Now, he is dedicated to changing this issue in Georgia.
