Washington, DC—The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, today released Overcoming Language and Cultural Barriers Using Evidence-Based Practices—a monograph of a panel discussion on the use of evidence-based practices in the juvenile justice system. Expert panelists focused on the cultural and linguistic needs of Latino youth who have become clients of evidence-based practices and how changes in juvenile justice policies, practices, and programs could ensure fairness and improved outcomes. 
 
Barriers such as cultural and linguistic discrepancies surface in every step of the juvenile justice process through interactions with law enforcement, courts, jails, and probation and threaten to unfairly impact Latino youth in the juvenile justice system. Juvenile justice systems must find more effective ways to treat all youth fairly. One way they can become more effective is by assessing whether their services address the cultural and linguistic needs of Latino youth.
 
NCLR produced this monograph in collaboration with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative.  The initiative seeks to create successful models of juvenile justice reform through targeted investments in key states. As a key partner in the Models for Change initiative, NCLR is committed to educating the public, policymakers, and juvenile justice systems personnel about the challenges that Latino youth and their families encounter as they become involved in all stages of the juvenile justice system.

Visit http://www.nclr.org/content/publications/detail/52033/ to download a copy of the monograph.