In Loco Aequitatis: The Dangers of \u27Safe Harbor\u27 Laws for Youth in the Sex Trades

This Article provides the first critical analysis of safe harbor laws, which rely on custodial arrests to prosecute or divert youth arrested for or charged with prostitution related offenses under criminal or juvenile codes to court supervision under state child welfare, foster care, or dependency statutes. This subject is a matter of intense debate nationwide, and on May 29, 2015 the President signed legislation that would give preferential consideration for federal grants to states that have enacted a law that discourages the charging or prosecution of a trafficked minor and encourages court-ordered treatment and institutionalization. Nearly universally lauded, the sound bite of safe harbor\u27s proponents has obscured the truth of its potential impact: increasing arrests through a net-widening effect, extending the length of court supervision and institutionalization, and perpetuating endemic law enforcement harassment and brutality against these young people. This Article offers new perspectives on the debate and examines challenges presented to legislators considering adoption of safe harbor laws

“First, Do No Harm”: Legal Guidelines for Health Programmes Affecting Adolescents Aged 10–17 Who Sell Sex or Inject Drugs

Introduction: There is a strong evidence base that the stigma, discrimination and criminalization affecting adolescent key populations (KPs) aged 10–17 is intensified due to domestic and international legal constructs that rely on law-enforcement-based interventions dependent upon arrest, pre-trial detention, incarceration and compulsory “rehabilitation” in institutional placement. While there exists evidence and rights-based technical guidelines for interventions among older cohorts, these guidelines have not yet been embraced by international public health actors for fear that international law applies different standards to adolescents aged 10–17 who engage in behaviours such as selling sex or injecting drugs. Discussion: As a matter of international human rights, health, juvenile justice and child protection law, interventions among adolescent KPs aged 10–17 must not involve arrest, prosecution or detention of any kind. It is imperative that interventions not rely on law enforcement, but instead low-threshold, voluntary services, shelter and support, utilizing peer-based outreach as much as possible. These services must be mobile and accessible, and permit alternatives to parental consent for the provision of life-saving support, including HIV testing, treatment and care, needle and syringe programmes, opioid substitution therapy, safe abortions, antiretroviral therapy and gender-affirming care and hormone treatment for transgender adolescents. To ensure enrolment in services, international guidance indicates that informed consent and confidentiality must be ensured, including by waiver of parental consent requirements. To remove the disincentive to health practitioners and researchers to engaging with adolescent KPs aged 10–17 government agencies and ethical review boards are advised to exempt or grant waivers for mandatory reporting. In the event that, in violation of international law and guidance, authorities seek to involuntarily place adolescent KPs in institutions, they are entitled to judicial process. Legal guidelines also provide that these adolescents have influence over their placement, access to legal counsel to challenge the conditions of their detention and regular visitation from peers, friends and family, and that all facilities be subject to frequent and periodic review by independent agencies, including community-based groups led by KPs. Conclusions: Controlling international law specifies that protective interventions among KPs aged 10–17 must not only include low-threshold, voluntary services but also “protect” adolescent KPs from the harms attendant to law-enforcement-based interventions. Going forward, health practitioners must honour the right to health by adjusting programmes according to principles of minimum intervention, due process and proportionality, and duly limit juvenile justice and child protection involvement as a measure of last resort, if any

Locked In. Interactions with the Criminal Justice and Child Welfare Systems for LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Who Engage in Survival Sex

In 2011, researchers from the Urban Institute launched a three-year study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth; young men who have sex with men (YMSM); and young women who have sex with women (YWSW) engaged in survival sex in New York City. Working in partnership with the New York City–based organization Streetwise and Safe (SAS), researchers trained youth leaders to conduct in-depth interviews with a total of 283 youth who engaged in survival sex in New York City and self-identified as LGBTQ, YMSM, or YWSW. In February 2015, we released the first report in this series, which focused specifically on the experiences and needs of youth engaging in survival sex. In this report, we focus on the youths’ interactions with juvenile and criminal justice systems, in addition to the child welfare system, from the perspectives of both the youths and stakeholders involved in these systems. Locked In features data collected from youth respondents about their experiences of arrest and court involvement, in combination with in-depth interviews with 68 criminal justice, child welfare, and youth-serving professionals across 28 organizations

Male smokers' experiences of an appearance-focused facial-ageing intervention.

This study investigated 30 male smokers' experiences of an appearance-focused, facial-ageing intervention. Individual interviews (n = 21) and three focus groups (n = 9) were conducted. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Male smokers explained that viewing the impacts of smoking on their own faces was the most effective part of the intervention and 22 men (73%) said that they intended quitting smoking or reducing number of cigarettes smoked post-intervention. It is recommended that designers of appearance-focused interventions target men in the future as the current findings demonstrated that the majority of men engaged well with the intervention

Surviving the Streets of New York. Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex

In 2011, researchers from the Urban Institute launched a three-year study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth; young men who have sex with men (YMSM); and young women who have sex with women (YWSW) engaged in survival sex in New York City. Working in partnership with the New York City–based organization Streetwise and Safe (SAS), researchers trained youth leaders to conduct in-depth interviews with a total of 283 youths who engaged in survival sex in New York City and identified themselves as LGBTQ, YMSM, or YWSW. During these interviews, youth were asked a wide range of questions about their backgrounds and experiences. The information they shared paints a vivid picture of how they survive in the face of adversity, often dealing with issues rooted in poverty, homophobia, transphobia, racism, child abuse, and criminalization

Assessment of Early Intervention Services to Better Child Outcomes among Part C Infants and Toddlers

Background: Early intervention services have been shown to improve child outcomes. Rapid proliferation of neural connections and circuits contribute to the rapid growth of the brain in the first three years of life. These neural circuits which create the foundation for learning are most flexible in this period and become increasingly more difficult to change thereafter. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between early enrollment in Georgia’s Part C birth to three early intervention program and improved child outcome ratings upon exiting the program at 3 years of age. The study used 2013 & 2014 Annual Performance Report (APR) data. Methods: This study included 6,309 participants who enrolled and received services in the Part C, Babies Can’t Wait (BCW) program. A Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to assess if there was an association between age at enrollment and improved child outcome score. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the variances within the age groups for equality. Bonferroni post hoc test was used to compare the mean child outcome score across the enrollment age groups. Results: A statistically significant inverse correlation was found between enrollment age and improved child outcome score at 3 years of age. One-way ANOVA showed that the variances within the enrollment age groups were equal while the mean child outcome scores were not. Bonferroni post hoc test revealed that the mean child outcome score in the enrollment age group 0 to ≤ 6 months was significantly higher than the other age groups. Conclusions: Significantly better child outcomes were associated with enrollment in early intervention services before 6 months of age