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April 1, 2020  |  By Marisol Marín In News

JJAI conducts a webinar to analyze how to guarantee comprehensive care in the face of COVID-19 in the adolescent justice system

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It is important that we take care of the mental health of adolescents in detention centers during COVID19, as they are already isolated from society, which is why a pandemic like this can be an opportunity to integrate care measures towards young people, with the agreement of the Undersecretary of the Penitentiary System of the State of Durango, Iliana Alvarado Salinas.

This was one of the opinions shared by our experts at the first Juvenile Justice Advocates International (JJAI) Webinar, entitled “COVID-19: Challenges in the comprehensive adolescent justice system.”

At the event held on the morning of Thursday, March 26, we counted with the presence of Dr. Elena Azaola, anthropologist and psychoanalyst, who is currently a CIESAS researcher. She mentioned that not only do you have to be careful with physical health but also emotional health, and called for the urgency of implementing protocols for young people distressed by the current situation, to avoid increasing the population of the centers temporarily and that those who can bring to completion their detention time in a sped up manner, should be taken into account.

“This is a juncture to request the support of civil society. Outside there are a number of supports that could be done in these difficult times, it only takes an exercise to strengthen ties. I believe that an organized community can do many things, but it has not been sufficiently encouraged to play a more active role”, she added.

During the webinar we also had the participation of the Director of Inter-institutional Coordination of the Executive Secretariat of the National System of Special Protection for Girls, Francisco Castellanos, who said that actions have been taken in order to respect the best interests of adolescents who are in the justice system and that it is necessary to rethink the conditions in which people who have a measure of deprivation of freedom live in, since young people cannot take actions such as the “socially distance themselves” to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the event of a case being detected in the center where they are located.

The event was moderated by the National Director of Projects of JJAI, Sarahi García,who assured that in the face of a crisis like the present one, it is difficult to build on a system that has been lacking in resources and professionalization of all the competent authorities and that she hopes that the measures of attention to the mental health of adolescents can be transformed into practices repeated.

Among the main collective concerns that were expressed regarding the current situation regarding COVID-19, it was stated that there is a need of the following:

  • Appropriate accompaniment for adolescents during the pandemic;
  • Taking care of their mental health;
  • Physical care to prevent the spread of the virus to the interior of the facilities
  • The changes that are made in the centers toward measures carried out due to COVID-19.

Some recommendations made in the webinar:

  • Find ways to avoid custodial penalties for the time being;
  • Emphasize protocols where mental health is prioritized 
  • Review what kind of accompaniments currently exist in the detention centers with the adolescents and shift them to become more in line with the law and always based on the best interests of children.
  • Highlight the transparency protocols that allow competent authorities such as SIPINNA or the CEDH to have eyes inside the centers.
Read all the recommendations emitted by JJAI here.

It is worth mentioning that this is our first Webinar in a series that we will be conducting with experts in the area, for more information you can follow us on our social networks, or write to info@jjadvocates.org. 

#coronavirus covid-19. adolescents covid19 justice webinar
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Webinar on COVID-19, Humanitaria Crisis for Youth in Detention in Latin America – Spanish only:

https://youtu.be/3MOSFq_hE1M

March 26th Webinar on COVID-19 and Challenges to the Juvenile Justice System in Mexico – Spanish only:

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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