LA County Dual System Youth

About the Initiative

In LA County, four out of five young people in juvenile detention or probation have previously been referred to child welfare. Many are foster kids. They are not “delinquents,” and childhood trauma has lasting effects throughout their lives. Children involved in both the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system (sometimes called Dual System youth) are more likely to experience recidivism, unemployment, and homelessness as adults.

It takes a village to raise a child. At Reissa, we believe that when a child appears in court, the village needs to step up. It’s an opportunity to take care of that child, with the support to thrive and join the community as a healthy adult.

Foster kids have experienced the trauma not just of removal from their homes, but also from logistical and bureaucratic obstacles. These obstacles prevent foster kids from receiving the help the community has promised. Under the outdated model, the child welfare system and the juvenile justice system did not work together or consider these unique circumstances.

As a result, Dual System Youth face unique challenges:

• When foster youth are arrested, they’re more likely to be sent to juvenile detention.
• Foster youth receive harsher sentences, and are less likely to be offered diversion opportunities.
• Social workers are sometimes resistant to taking on dual system youth, and their cases often languish in the juvenile justice system.
• Dual system youth often spend more time in detention, even after serving their full sentence, because social workers are unable to place them in homes.