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September 20, 2022  |  By JJAI News In News

Families Healing

Más Familias Sanando

Planning a visit to a detention center is often a difficult task for the parents of children in conflict with the law. Many of them come from poor communities that are very far from where the detention centers are located. Affording a trip to the detention center is not something they can easily contemplate.

On Sunday, August 21 a gathering was held for the families of the children living in the CERMI detention center, located in the fourth largest state of Mexico, Durango.

Two mothers traveled with their other children and one father traveled alone. Our Project Coordinator in Durango, Estefanía Acosta, gave information about JJAI’s projects and about the help we provide to families. She also distributed food and drinks to all attendees. Parents often bring food for their children during visiting days, but since they often cannot afford it it is very helpful when we are able to assist them this way.

It was a happy and fun time for the families while they ate pizza, cake and drank soft drinks. The parents participated in a workshop led by Melissa Hernández, PsyD. She led them through different activities where she was able to connect with them in order to get to know them, as well as the needs they have as a family, better.

These families are often stigmatized by society. All the processes that their children go through with the justice system are also suffered by them. It is common for parents to feel that they have failed when their children become involved with the justice system.

They are in a very vulnerable state and their low financial capacity to support their children usually leads to feelings of guilt, anxiety, sadness, anger, frustration and helplessness.

Their need to provide for the rest of their families also makes them make the painful decision of having to visit very sporadically or avoid visiting their children altogether.

A child who does not have a family nucleus or a support network to accompany him during his time in a detention center is usually a child with a greater possibility of developing depression, anxiety or even attempting against their own life.

On the other hand, a child who has the support and affection of their family during their penal process is a child with a greater possibility of a successful reintegration into society.

At the end of the activities with Ms. Hernandez, many parents felt overwhelmed by all the emotions they expressed, but they also felt great being able to communicate their feelings with someone who understands them, who does not judge them and who can provide them with tools to be able to develop a better relationship with their children. The parents returned very moved with their children and the first thing they did was hug them tightly.

Of the six children who were in the detention center at that time, only three of them were able to receive visits on this occasion. However, the other children were not segregated, but rather were included in this gathering and also had the opportunity to share food and meet the relatives of their peers.

It is our wish that in the future more families can participate in this type of experience, however the costs of transportation and food for families are usually high, so in order to provide this help to more families we require support through monetary donations to continue these activities.

We thank all the families that participated and we hope to soon be able to continue with more Family Reunifications in all the territories where we work.

Our Re-entry Services Project has the purpose of providing support to families once the criminal process of their children has concluded, however it is not possible for us to know their needs without first getting to know them personally and getting a more concise idea of the type of support they will require. This meeting allowed us to learn about the real needs of the families as well as the way in which it is most useful for them to receive this help.

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Webinar on COVID-19, Humanitaria Crisis for Youth in Detention in Latin America – Spanish only:

https://youtu.be/3MOSFq_hE1M

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https://youtu.be/52zianCu_3A

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Guerrero

Después de años de lucha y problemas de inseguridad, decidimos en 2022 cerrar nuestro proyecto en Guerrero. Pudimos implementar nuestro instrumento de evaluación previa al juicio para garantizar que los jóvenes de bajo riesgo permanezcan en sus comunidades. Y brindamos apoyo a más de 220 jóvenes, como parte de nuestro proyecto de Movilizando Voluntarios.

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Chiapas

Por invitación del Poder Judicial del Estado de Chiapas, realizamos un estudio para evaluar la viabilidad de implementar nuestros proyectos en la región. En 2022, nuestro equipo presentó los resultados y recomendaciones. El gobierno estatal ahora está decidiendo cómo quieren colaborar con nosotros en el futuro.

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Guerrero

After years of struggle and security issues, we decided in 2022 to close our project in Guerrero. We were able to implement our pretrial screening instrument to ensure low-risk youth stay in their communities. And we provided support to over 220 youths, as part of our Mobilize and Empower project.

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Chiapas

In the state of Chiapas, at the invitation of the state judiciary, we conducted a study to assess the viability of implementing our projects. In 2022, our team presented the results and recommendations. The state government is now deciding how they want to collaborate with us in the future.

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CDMX

Vista como líder nacional en las prácticas del sistema de justicia, la Ciudad de México tiene más adolescentes en detención que cualquier otra jurisdicción. Sin embargo, también ha desarrollado una unidad de seguimiento en libertad con numerosas alianzas con organizaciones. Nuestros proyectos fortalecerán esta área crítica.

JJI está trabajando en la Ciudad de México desde dos vertientes. En Alternativas a la Detención con un monitoreo que comenzó en 2019, pero por causas sanitarias y la pandemia por COVID, se retomó dos años después con un equipo de especialistas el cual ya está preparándose para continuar la actividad. En Movilizando voluntarios, se continúa con los esfuerzos para reunir a más adolescentes con sus familias, gracias al apoyo: “Reunificación familiar”. Así como también se han realizado entrega de enseres en los 6 centros.

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Durango

A pesar de tener un número menor de adolescentes en el sistema de justicia, Durango es una jurisdicción que busca la mejora continua. Durango es el primer estado donde tanto el poder judicial como el ejecutivo han firmado convenios de colaboración para la implementación de nuestros proyectos de Alternativas a la Detención.

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Chihuahua

Chihuahua es nuestro sitio piloto y un estado considerado líder en la reforma penal en México. Nuestros proyectos comenzaron en el 2016. Desde entonces, los tiempos en detención preventiva han disminuido, los adolescentes son supervisados con mayor eficiencia en sus comunidades y se ha mejorado la calidad de vida de aquellos adolescentes que siguen privados de su libertad.

En Chihuahua trabajamos con varios proyectos, como son el monitoreo que se trabaja en conjunto con la autoridad, y con los adolescentes y sus familias trabajamos en talleres, mesas de trabajo, eventos lúdicos, acompañamiento post penal, reubicaciones y traslados de familiares para audiencias y visitas, así como donaciones de enseres, ropa y material deportivo.

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Chihuahua

A national leader in criminal procedural reforms, our pilot project in Chihuahua started in 2016. Since that time the rates and duration of pretrial detention have declined, youth are being successfully supervised in their communities and new programs in the detention center have improved daily life for those children still deprived of liberty.

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CDMX

Looked to as the national leader in youth justice practices, Mexico City has more youth in detention than any other jurisdiction but has also developed a robust probation office and numerous alliances with nonprofits. Our projects will further fortify this critical work.

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Durango

Despite being a smaller jurisdiction, Durango is constantly looking to improve. Durango is the first state where both the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch have signed Memorandum of Understanding to launch the Alternatives to Detention initiatives.

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