ISSUES
Trauma-Informed Court
Once elected, Shanice will operate a courtroom that is trauma-informed. This type of court says to those that enter that Shanice recognizes that children involved with the justice system have already experienced certain levels of trauma, even before they entered through the intimidating doors. When those children are in the court, it will be her mission not to add to their trauma, but instead mitigate. Additionally, a trauma-informed court requires officers of the court to be mindful of the fact that those charged and standing before them are children. Rehabilitation and deterrence is the main objective when addressing the needs of children and families that come into contact with the juvenile court system. Shanice plans to get training for people who work in her court on how to better serve children that have suffered the traumas that are often present in those juveniles who find themselves before the court. The idea of trauma-informed courts also puts our juvenile court system in line with the “Rehabilitative Ideal” that envisioned the courts would have a judge that is trained in social sciences who possesses qualities that would aid in making decisions based on the complicated lives of these children.
The time is now for multi-system and community collaboration to implement and expand access to diversion programs in the court that are trauma-informed and evidence-based.
LGBTQIA Youth
LGBTQIA youths need access to care and services consistent with best practices for these populations. Shanice would encourage that her entire professional staff of her court receives the constant training necessary to consider the needs of the questioning community. As the world around these young people become harder to traverse, we must ensure we are prepared to work with them and for them. This is especially important as this population of youth is at a greater risk of experiencing childhood sexual and physical abuse at home and human trafficking. This entire issue must be understood and it is one that Shanice would work hard to make sure community partners have a huge role in assisting with.
Smart-Courtrooms
Shanice knows that we are in a time where we have more technology at our disposal and we are obligated to use this, to make the juvenile court more efficient and more just. Shanice believes that there is technology like “IBM Watson” software that is available which facilitates more desired results. Like texting parents/guardians about their children’s court dates, and because children are at the whims of their guardians then court dates can provide an entire schism for families, but if we use technology like Skype, Zoom, Facetime and other video services the court becomes more accessible to the communities we are trying to serve. Using technology reduces the number of court dates parents and children will miss.