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May 7, 2021  |  By Samantha Moreno In News

A mother’s tireless struggle

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Rocío gets up very early every morning to prepare for her two jobs. She cleans the houses of wealthy people, who sometimes give her clothes, purses, or shoes that they no longer use. Rocío sells these items in a street market to have an extra income.

She requires a double income because she needs to pay her household bills, put food on the table, and pay weekly fees at the adult prison where her oldest son is currently living. When she is done paying her debts, she does not have enough money left to visit her youngest son, who is in a detention center in Mexico City.

Although she also resides in the same city, she does not really have any excess money to cover public transport tickets. In the middle of a pandemic, it is also not prudent for her to use the public buses or the subway, because this means exposing herself to catching the new coronavirus, and she has had diabetes for some years. In fact, her eyes have already resented her illness and her meager income sometimes does not allow her to buy the medicine she needs.

Rocío misses her children every day, and she wishes to see them or talk with them. She understands that her boys are in detention because they committed an act against the law, but that does not separate the fact that, as a mother, it is always necessary for her to be close to her children, support them and comfort them.

Upon learning about Rocío’s situation, she was invited to participate in the first Family Reunification that we held in Mexico City. She was provided with private transportation to the detention center, where her youngest son is, as well as back to her home.

Through the Family Reunifications of the Mobilizing Volunteers project, we provide support to low-income families who cannot visit their children at the detention centers, by providing transportation, so they can get to spend some time with their children during visitation days. The parents are also handed a Personal Kit that they can give to their son or daughter during the visit, as means to support the tight income of each family.

Although Rocío had wanted to visit her son for a long time, the pandemic had not allowed her to do so, since the detention centers were closed to all kinds of visits for many months. Visiting permits have already been reinstated in Mexico City, so Rocío did not hesitate to accept the support we offered her.

We accompanied her during the visit to her child. She brought some scrambled eggs with ham, pickled chili peppers, bread, and a soda, to share with her boy. She went through all the safety and hygiene inspections, then she waited in a garden for her son to come out to see her. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw him. They both hugged each other tightly for a few seconds and then sat down to eat and talk, after many months of not doing so. They were mother and son, as they always have been, although this time they were behind bars.

It is extremely important to keep these families together. Families are an adolescent's first link with society, and they are of great help in attempting a positive reintegration of the adolescent, once their time in detention is over. When a family member is denied the possibility of contact with the adolescent, an even deeper divide is created between them, the juvenile justice system and society. The family member has no way of knowing if the adolescent is in good physical and mental health. The adolescent, in turn, may feel abandoned, hopeless, and reaffirm the belief that he or she is not part of a society that cares for them, thus generating a greater possibility of recidivism in crime when they lack the trust and understanding from society.

At JJI we have the conviction that in order to generate a more tolerant, inclusive and safe society, we must maintain the relationship of the adolescent in conflict with the law and their family nucleus. Young people must have contact with their family, express their way of feeling and feel supported and understood.

Help us provide assistance to more families with Family Reunifications, by making a donation that allows us to cover the transportation costs of more mothers and fathers throughout the country. Donate hope and well-being for these separated families today.

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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

Los adolescentes en el sistema de justicia en Guerrero requieren de gran apoyo, servicios y protección del crimen organizado, por lo que nuestro trabajo se realiza bajo un nivel considerable de inseguridad pública. Somos la única A.C. trabajando para ayudar al gobierno para que los adolescentes tengan una verdadera segunda oportunidad.

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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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Chiapas

Ante la apertura de los operadores del sistema de justicia para adolescentes del estado de Chiapas, a partir del mes de diciembre del año 2020 se tuvo acercamiento con los operadores que encabezan el Sistema de Justicia Penal para Adolescentes en el Estado de Chiapas, con el fin de coadyuvar en dicho sistema y en pro de todas las personas adolescentes Chiapanecos en conflicto con la ley. Tanto que el día 26 de abril del 2021, JJI realizó la presentación de proyectos ante los operadores del sistema penal para adolescentes en la Sala de Presidentes del Poder Judicial del Estado de Chiapas teniendo una respuesta de interés de los presentes.


En el tenor del desarrollo de la relación institucional JJI continuó aportando varias donaciones a los Centros de Internamiento Especializados para Adolescentes ubicados en los Municipios de Berriozábal ”Villa Crisol” y Mazatán “Zona Costa” del Estado de Chiapas, ha entregado Kit de enseres, insumos para la prevención del Virus SARS-CoV-2, canastas básicas conformados por alimentos y artículos de limpieza e higiene personal.

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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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Guerrero

Working under the shadow of significant public insecurity, the youth in Guerrero’s justice system are in dire need of support, services and protection from organized crime. We are one of the only nonprofits working to help the government and youth in detention get a second chance.

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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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Chiapas

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