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April 27, 2021  |  By Samantha Moreno In News

United, even through the distance

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Silvia is going through a very difficult time. Three of her children are living behind bars.

Her two eldest sons are in an adult’s prison in the state of Chihuahua, and her youngest boy, Miguel, is in a juvenile detention facility in that same state. Silvia lives very far from both prisons, in a neighboring but distant state, about 300 miles away.

Silvia earns the minimum Mexican wage, her husband lost his job as the pandemic grew bigger, so while he is looking for another job, she is the one covering their home’s bills, where their daughter lives as well.

With a heavy heart, she has had to tell her sons in prison that she will not be able to visit them for months at a time because she simply does not have the money to cover the travel expenses.

Last year she got sick from COVID-19, which made it even harder for her to even fathom going out to visit her children. She did not think it was reasonable for her to put other people in danger during the trip to another state, so she settled with just being able to see Miguel through video calls for a couple of months.

One day she got a call from our staff member in the state of Chihuahua. She informed Silvia that she was aware of her situation and that JJAI was willing to cover her bus ticket so that she could visit her son. All she had to do was tell us the date that would work best for her. Silvia could not wrap her head around this information.

Silvia told our staff member that she felt sad that she would only be able to visit one of her sons, because she understood that the help was only intended for her youngest son. After learning more of her case, we found out that she has a family member living in Chihuahua, who could have her over for the whole weekend, so this way she could visit Miguel on Saturday and her eldest sons on Sunday.

Silvia was overwhelmed with joy at what this help represented to her. There was only one more problem: she did not want to visit her child empty handed.

The inmates In Mexican prisons get by with just the possessions that their families can provide to them when they visit them. All items must be authorized and pass a control check from the prisons’ authorities and the inmates must be very careful of them because sometimes they can go for long periods before they are able to get a new item. Months, or even years, can go by before they can have new toothbrushes or underwear.

Our staff member met Silvia at the main bus station in Chihuahua. They were very excited to meet and would have loved to be able to hug or at least shake hands, but the pandemic does not allow it. So they just waved at each other and, even though they could not see their mouths, their eyes showed the happiness they both shared.

Our staff member took Silvia to the detention center where Miguel is living. She also handed her a bag with a new pair of sweatpants, sneakers and a personal hygiene kit. Silvia was very emotional from everything that happened and for being able to visit her son with a small gift that she could not have acquired on her own.

Silvia spent a couple of blissful hours inside the detention center with her son.
When she came out, she was very moved by all the help she received. She sat down in a bench with our staff member and she shared the following:

“When I come here to visit my sons I always get nervous because I don’t know what is going to happen, but I put myself in God’s hands. I start thinking that, no matter what happens, it is worth it because I am going to be able to enjoy some time with them, I will get a chance to talk to them and that’s a very beautiful feeling. As I have already told you, I am extremely thankful for this help. Blessed are you and all the people who do everything they can so I can come see my kids. I am infinitely grateful for your kindness. It never even crossed my mind that I would meet someone like you and yet here we are. Please know that you have a friend in me forever and that I hope that God will bless you in everything you do”.

At JJAI we believe that the families are key to the successful reintegration of the children into society. There is rarely a good outcome from blocking the contact between families and their children. Being able to provide the parents with opportunities for transportation to visit their children might seem like a simple thing, but for these mothers and fathers it is a hopeful step towards the healing of their families.

Please consider making a donation today so we can provide these opportunities to more families.

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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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