URGENT ASSISTANCE NEEDED:

Juvenile Law Center is working with a New York Times reporter who is very interested in doing a feature story about the impact of court ordered costs, fees and fines on youth and families. The story would be in conjunction with the release of our new national report entitledDebtors’ Prisons for Kids? The High Cost of Fines and Fees in the Juvenile Justice System. We are in urgent need of youth and/or parents who would be willing to share their stories. Ideally, the case would meet the following criteria:

  1. Youth from a financially challenged family
  2. The young person got involved in the system for typical teen behavior
  3. We want to highlight the racially disparate impact of costs and fees, so we’d like to make sure we have youth of color represented in our stories.
  4. Theirinability to pay has led to deeper involvement in the justice system and/or family debt and has negatively impacted the young person or family

We are talking broadly about costs, and can include:

· Cost of counsel

· Court costs and fees

· Fines

· Expungement costs

· Cost of incarceration

· Cost of treatment

· Cost of support

· Cost of evaluations

· Cost of assessments

· Cost of probation,

· Etc.

We would assist the youth and families in preparing for the interview and/or talking with them about the process to alleviate fears and make sure they know what to expect. If they don’t feel comfortable after talking with us, they don’t have to go through with it.

If you know of a youth or family that meets these criteria, could you contact them as soon as possible and see if they would allow you to send us their contact information and a brief summary of the case? We will NOT share their contact information with the reporter until we speak with them and make sure they feel entirely comfortable.We need to get something to the reporter in the next 2 business days, if at all possible.

If you have willing clients, please contact Marie Yeager at Juvenile Law Center –r give her a call on cell at 717-817-3333. Feel free also to reach out to me with any questions –.

We greatly appreciate your assistance.

Jessica