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This past January, 14-year-old David Bennett* was resentenced to six more months of treatment at a juvenile detention center for the death of his 11-year-old cousin. David lived in a rural community with his two older sisters and mother, who would often accommodate other family members for extended periods of time. In the summer of 2004, David and his sisters were removed from the home and placed in foster care. David was 11 years old. The reunification of the family took less than one week; however, during the next year and a half David and his sisters would find themselves in and out of foster care several more times.
The severity of problems surrounding David and his family pinnacled in December 2005 when their home caught fire. Most were able to escape physically unharmed, with the exception of Serena, David's 11-year-old cousin, who died in the fire. Within two weeks David and his sisters were back in foster care. The following week David was arrested for setting the fire that burned down his home and took his cousin's life.
David, who was 12 years old at the time, was adjudicated delinquent and placed in an adult jail. Several months later he was moved to a secure juvenile detention treatment center with specialized programs that address emotional behavioral issues that lead to delinquent behavior. David, now 15, is being transferred to a less restrictive residential facility His sisters, for reasons not having to do with the fire, are in foster care and have two hours of visitation with their mother every month.
Opening Communication
While David's case is very extreme, it exemplifies what so many practitioners see on a regular basis: dually involved youth, or youth who have been served by both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. An increasing amount of research is now available to support the undeniable relationship between child maltreatment and delinquency. The child welfare and juvenile justice systems often serve the same children, respond to similar issues, and ultimately desire the same positive outcomes for the youth and communities they serve, "Yet, traditionally and typically they work in exclusion of one another.
Across the country, communities are starting to recognize the link between these two systems and are taking...