Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
77 Forest Street
Hartford, CT 06105
860-522-9258
info@stowecenter.org
Mallory LaPierre, Policy Associate with the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance and Kimball Robbins, Regional Manager of Juvenile Probation and Gender Responsive Probation with the Court Support Services Division of Connecticut, led a conversation on the intersection of gender, race and juvenile justice. Ms. LaPierre and Ms. Robbins said that girls, in particular girls of color, are the fastest growing population in the juvenile justice system. Despite this, most programs focus on boys, thus girls are underserved and ignored. They said that probation officers and detention center staff are not trained to deal with issues relating to girls. Many girls experience significant trauma prior to entering the system. This trauma needs to be addressed by trained professionals to prevent girls from returning to the system.
Inspiration to Action