Simple messages, simple tactics: The role of media in status offense reform

Tara Grieshop-Goodwin, Kentucky Youth Advocates

Liaising with media agencies may not jump to mind as a priority when beginning juvenile justice reform. We often first think of data gathering, conducting research, or identifying solutions. While those represent critical steps in the process, working with the media should not be overlooked, as it can play a major role in building will for reforms and helping to shape the conversation. In one example, media coverage of juvenile justice issues in Kentucky helped raise awareness of the problem and spur interest in changes among policymakers and community members.

In the early stages of work to change Kentucky’s response to status offenses, my organization, Kentucky Youth Advocates, prepared an issue brief that documented the high use of detention for status offenses and included county-level data. Members of the media were very interested in the issue and the newspaper and radio coverage that followed began a conversation in Kentucky that laid the foundation for reforms that came several years later.

We approached the media work carefully. One of the early challenges we identified was the need to “translate” the technical language of juvenile justice practices into phrases and explanations that the engaged public could understand. That meant boiling down the language of “complaints filed,” “valid court orders,” and “secure detention”—all of which can have very different meanings for people who do not work in the juvenile justice system. We instead described the basics of what was happening: too many youth were being locked up for behaviors like running away or skipping school. Finding a simple way to communicate the problem removed the legal jargon that masked the real impact of the practice on children and generated widespread interest in the issue.

Another consideration about the message focused on finding effective ways to talk about solutions. For example, we clearly communicated the need to implement effective strategies to address the status offense behavior, so people would not interpret that we wanted to let kids off the hook.

Working with the media in the beginning stages of our work on status offense reform helped us throughout the campaign. The media coverage generated a couple of positive impacts. First, it spurred action by a number of local policymakers to change practices at the local level. Additionally, newspaper editorials on the need for change encouraged state-level policymakers to take action. This public support for changes, along with education of policymakers about the need for reforms, helped shift the discussion about status offenses. Rather than asking whether action was needed, the question became how best to reform the system to achieve the desired results. That strong agreement on the need for change set the stage for the reforms, such as frontloading services to children to avoid the use of secure detention for status offenses, put in place with SB 200 in 2014 that are now being implemented.

We utilized multiple strategies to accomplish juvenile justice reform, and in the end, several factors made reform a reality. But we know that our work with the media played a significant role in whetting the appetite for reform. Never underestimate the power of newspaper, radio, and, now, social media coverage in creating positive changes for children.

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ABOUT TARA GRIESHOP-GOODWIN

Tara Grieshop-Goodwin serves as Chief Policy Officer at Kentucky Youth Advocates, where she oversees the organizations work in health, education, economic security, juvenile justice and safety. She also coordinates the work of the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, a unified agenda for policy change to improve child well-being in Kentucky, and serves on the State Advisory Group’s Subcommittee for Equity and Justice for All Youth (SEJAY).

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