Patricia Grimes v. DC, et al

Filing

OPINION filed [1563442] (Pages: 21) for the Court by Judge Pillard, CONCURRING OPINION (Pages: 7) by Judge Griffith. [13-7038]

USCA Case #13-7038

Document #1563442

Filed: 07/21/2015

Page 1 of 4

The attached material is cited in Grimes v. D.C., No. 137038, slip op. at 4 (D.C. Cir. July 21, 2015); (citing , James
Forman Jr. & Reid H. Weingarten, New Hope at Oak Hill,
Wash. Post, Dec. 24, 2007, available on 7/21/15 at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/20
07/12/23/AR2007122302072.html).
Archived by the Circuit Library on 7/21/15

James Forman Jr. and Reid H. Weingarten - New Hope at Oak Hill

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washingtonpost.com  > Opinions

New Hope at Oak Hill
By James Forman Jr. and Reid H. Weingarten
Monday, December 24, 2007

For the past two decades, the District's juvenile justice
system has been a source of shame. Rats and roaches
infested Oak Hill, the facility that housed adolescent
offenders, and a court-appointed monitor found snakes
in hallways and in residents' beds. Youths assaulted
staff, and staff assaulted youths. Drugs, alcohol and
weapons were easy to find. Escapes were common.

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Post editorials chronicled the dysfunction over the
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King wrote that "the District government -- through
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Oak Hill -- is aiding and abetting the hardening of
young offenders by enmeshing them in a dysfunctional
juvenile justice system that makes them, as one expert said, 'more apt to commit crime.' "
This is the system that D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services Director
Vincent Schiraldi inherited in 2005. Understanding this history is essential to a fair
evaluation of the department today. Schiraldi and the city face a monumental challenge -namely, turning around a broken bureaucracy and creating a juvenile system that protects
the community and rehabilitates teens. We believe there are three keys to this challenge.
First, find what works and bring it to the
District. Because the D.C. juvenile justice
system has failed for so long, many of us
accept inadequacy as inevitable. But reform
efforts elsewhere tell a different story.
Schiraldi has modeled his approach on that
of Missouri, where, working with kids from
tough neighborhoods in St. Louis and
Kansas City, officials have created a system
that treats young offenders like future
citizens, not incorrigible inmates. Instead of
large detention facilities, Missouri uses
small, dormitory-style settings in
communities, with an emphasis on therapy, schooling and rehabilitation.
Missouri officials know that public safety comes first. But they also know that
rehabilitation is one of the best means of protecting the public. By teaching juvenile

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/23/AR2007122302072.html[07/21/2015 3:56:19 PM]

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James Forman Jr. and Reid H. Weingarten - New Hope at Oak Hill

offenders to address their past misdeeds, to read and to imagine a #1563442
USCA Case #13-7038
Document future, the Missouri
system prepares them to become productive, law-abiding citizens. This approach works.
Last year, Missouri's juvenile recidivism rate was 8 percent, while the rate in Texas -which has a more punitive approach -- was over 50 percent.
Missouri, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has said, has "the most successful statewide
juvenile justice program in the nation." Wouldn't it be nice if the District could make
such a boast one day, too?
Second, focus on education. School is where juvenile offenders spend most of their day,
and a good education can greatly improve their life prospects and reduce their risk of
reoffending. Despite this urgency, for years the school at Oak Hill was as much of a
disaster as the rest of the facility.
Last year, after a competitive bidding process, the Department of Youth Rehabilitation
Services chose See Forever, an organization we helped found a decade ago, to operate
the school at Oak Hill. We have 10 years' experience running the District's Maya
Angelou Public Charter School, whose diverse student body includes teens who have
previously dropped out and kids who have been locked up. Despite their backgrounds,
our students succeed in post-secondary education at rates that exceed their peers'.
How do we beat the odds? The short answer is that we focus on the three R's -- a
rigorous, challenging curriculum, coursework that is relevant to students' pasts and
futures, and meaningful relationships between teachers and students.
Creating a climate of academic achievement at a juvenile facility is not easy. But this
past term, two juvenile offenders (we call them Oak Hill Scholars) who had once
dropped out of school earned straight A's. Even more impressive was the reception they
got from their peers at our academic awards ceremony this month. Offenders who had
previously ridiculed school success were cheering on the winners and challenging each
other over who would earn more awards at the next ceremony.
Third, know that success will be slow and unsteady. Miraculous turnarounds are the stuff
of Hollywood. Young people who face significant academic and emotional challenges do
not overcome them quickly. At Maya Angelou, even some of our best students have
stumbled, temporarily reverting to behavior that landed them in trouble in the first place.
But most of these young people eventually get back on the road to success.
What we have said about working with young people is also true about reforming
systems. The change will not be immediate, and even in the best system, some offenders
who are released will commit crimes again. This is not an argument against
accountability. Ultimately, Schiraldi must be judged on results: his agency's overall
success in reducing recidivism, maintaining security and improving outcomes for
juvenile offenders.
But given the high turnover in the department's leadership over the past two decades, we
believe it is too early to give up on a promising reformer. Instead, our city should support
his efforts to rebuild this critical agency.
James Forman Jr., a former public defender, is a professor at Georgetown Law School.
Reid H. Weingarten, a former prosecutor, is a partner at the law firm Steptoe and
Johnson. They are on the board of the nonprofit See Forever Foundation.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/23/AR2007122302072.html[07/21/2015 3:56:19 PM]

Filed: 07/21/2015

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James Forman Jr. and Reid H. Weingarten - New Hope at Oak Hill

USCA Case #13-7038

Document #1563442

Filed: 07/21/2015

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