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CSEC Action Team & Judicial Council of California, Center for Families, Children & the Courts

Applying Harm Reduction in the Courtroom:

Supporting Youth, Families, and Caregivers Impacted by Commercial Sexual Exploitation

April 29, 2024 | Zoom

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Notice

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This event is sponsored by the Judicial Council of California, Center for Families, Children & the Courts, and in collaboration with the CSEC Action Team. This project was supported by Subgrant No. CW 23 22 1535 awarded by the state administering office for the STOP Formula Grant Program. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the state or U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

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The Action Team

Established in 2013, the California Child Welfare's CSEC Action Team, brings together key stakeholders–community based and grassroots organizations, public agencies, lived experience experts, service providers, parent partners, judges, lawyers, and interested community members to address CSE.

We meet quarterly to grow awareness about CSE, identify challenges facing California’s young people impacted by CSE and their families and caregivers, share promising practices, and develop tools and resources. Our goal is to spur members across California to take action to better serve youth and their families who have been impacted by exploitation.

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Roadmap

Introduction to Harm Reduction
Judicial Bench Cards and CDSS Harm Reduction Guidance
Panel
Breakout Sessions
Closing

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Introduction to Harm Reduction

Mae Ackerman-Brimberg, Senior Attorney, National Center for Youth Law

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What is Harm Reduction?

Derived from the substance use field
Accepts risky situations are a reality
Focuses on reducing the impact of unsafe behaviors or circumstances, rather than abstinence
Empowers youth to exercise autonomy
Safer not safest

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Examples of Harm Reduction

Harm reduction comes from the substance use field. It recognizes that people are in risky situations or engage in risky behaviors, and rather than expecting them to stop completely, which doesn’t work, we can work together to make those situations less dangerous. Clean needle exchanges are an example. [Also gave the carseat example: Seatbelts are an example - driving is risky but we choose to engage in it because of the benefits it has, and we wear seatbelts to reduce the potential harm.]

Harm reduction or as you have heard folks from this team say risk reduction or trauma informed care is a body of work that came from the substance use field that is applicable in this context because it recognizes that the situations that youth are in that get them to be in juvenile justice system often can not be just stopped [MAE comment - we want to broaden this but also make clear HR is one piece of trauma informed care, don’t want to muddy the waters too much]

We practice harm reduction everyday. Seat belts are harm reduction because there is inherent risk in driving a car and while we cannot eliminate all risks we can mitigate them by using a seat belt. Ride shares are also harm reduction - we choose to take risks b/c there are benefits to it, so we figure out ways to reduce the risk associated with it

We are focusing on youth being safer than what they are experiencing now. This doesn’t mean that we aren’t striving for as safe as can reasonably be it means that we can get there incrementally - SAFER, not completely safe

Less time on examples: employing hr everyday

Reducing using ways you see in the screen

It is about shifting agency to youth–this is their life and when you take decision making away from them

What Mae said to my mom:

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Why is it critical to practice harm reduction in courtroom settings?

Youth impacted by CSE experience disproportionate involvement with the child welfare and juvenile legal systems
Youth are in high risk situations and may engage in risky behaviors
System involvement itself causes harm

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Mae

Why is it important to practice HR with youth in the courtroom?

First, they are kids! They may be getting in trouble or there are other unsafe situations in their lives, doing things we view as “adult”, esp. when we are talking about black and brown girls who face adultification. If you are a parent, we know that you cant tell your kid to stop something altogether (esp if they are a teenager!) It’s all about supporting them to do what they will in safer ways
Next, we always like to remind people that whether you know it or not, you ARE seeing kids who have CSE experience in your courtrooms. CSE youth are disproportionately represented in both the JJ and CW systems, and often have dual system exposure. And even if its not CSE specifically, most kids are coming into our systems with past trauma and abuse. That means we must take a different approach that is not focused on blaming the young person but understanding where they are coming from and supporting them to be safer.
Youth are often in high risk situations that we do not have the power to stop, as much as we wish we could

CSE is inherently harmful
Risk for violence (or even death) - traffiers, buyer, community violence, intimiate partner vilence, child abuse
o Unwanted or early pregnancy/STIs
o Leaving care behavior
o Substance use/abuse behavior
o Risk of psychological coercion and core identity disturbance

But we also know that law enfrocement contact, juvenile legal system contact, incarceration and CW involvement both create further harms - community separation, potential abuse while detained or in out of home placement, future consequences like impact on education and employment and housing
SO we must use harm reduction practices to minimize the risks they are currently facing and to not cause more harm through system involvement. It is both part of trauma-informed care, and it works to change long term behavior and increase safety! [Add one more sentence about HR in reducing further system involvement - courage]

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Key Principles of Harm Reduction with Youth

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Celebrate the small steps, that eventually increase long term safety. Encourage youth to progress at their own pace.

Don’t recreate harmful power dynamics. Combat the cycle of criminalization by helping youth build safe relationships with supportive people.

Always ask youth and families first what they want and need. Supporting a youth’s autonomy is essential.

Youth Voice & Choice

Relationship Building

Recognize and accept that risky situations and behaviors happen, that something may go wrong, and that you can not guarantee safety. Consider all types of safety the youth may be balancing.

Balancing Risks

Incremental Change

Mae - You will hear in the panel about some specific strategies for how implement HR in the courtroom. Underlying all of these are some key principles:

- Youth voice - Exploitation and system involvement in general silences kids. They want to be seen and heard. Empowering young people by giving them as many opportunities as possible to voice their opinions and make decisions, big and small, is essential if we expect their behavior to change. If we don’t ask, we can’t get to the root. For example, if a kid’s probation term requires them to go to school, and they aren’t going, rather than punishing them, we can ask What makes it hard for you to go to school? Maybe they don’t have a safe way to get to school, maybe they’ve missed too much b/c they have been homeless and they are embarrassed to go back, and those feelings and concerns are normal reactions to their circumstances. All of these would lead us to different solutions, and helping young people find their voices is healing in itself. How to do this? CFTs/MDTs, credible messengers who can accompany kids or represent them if they arent present; asking the kids FIRST in court - not addressing their attorney or PO first

- Balancing risk - This is often the hardest one. We have to recognize that risky situations and behaviors happen, and we cannot control that. One of the major areas of resistance of using HR is that we construe kids as choosing to do something we view as unsafe. But kids are often facing impossible decisions between different kinds of safety - prioritizing physical, emotional, financial safety at the expense of the others. For example, we might see a young person who keeps going back to an exploiter, which looks like choice (and a very bad/dangerous one) to us. But when you ask the kid, they explain that they feel safer of a roof over their head (physical safety) and a person saying I will take care of you (emotional safety) vs the potential abuse they might face at home or alone on the streets. So we can see that it isn’t that they aren’t considering risk, but they are calculating - either consciously or subconsciously – what is best for them at the moment
- We are asking you to go out on a limb

- We are not advocating for you to do this, this is your colleagues - they are encouraging you through your leadership and practice. They have seen this work and want you to be emboldened, and you will hear from them later

- Relationship building - This is the number one thing we hear from kids when we ask what made a difference in your life. Often youth have lived thru many unhealthy relationships bc of past abuse, exploitation, etc. → this is an opportunity to create and model healthy relationships. When we incarcerate, impose more sanctions and control, we are recreating harmful power dynamics they've experienced elsewhere (specialized workers, CSE advocates, those with lived experience)
Incremental change - Healing and change are not linear. Change takes time, and HR recognizes that small, incremental change can lead to long term safety. Ex. reducing runaway lengths of time from 5 days to 2 day, or having a safe person to call.

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When “relapse” refers to a low level illness, it is thought of as unfortunate. When it describes a child leaving a place of safety, reconnecting with an exploiter, and placing themselves in what may be grave physical as well as psychological danger, it offends every instinct of a responsible adult – whether professional, caregiver, or parent. And with that sense of offense is the real danger that since we cannot ensure the protection of the victimized child, we may decline to engage them because of the risk to our own reputations. But our response cannot be “If we can’t control you, we can’t help you.

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Will Lightbourne, Former Director, California Department of Social Services

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Insert text here

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Resources

Judicial Council of California - Harm Reduction & CSEC Bench Cards
CDSS Harm Reduction Series

ACIN I-51-23 (Sept. 5, 2023 ) - Harm Reduction Series: Juvenile Courts
ACIN I-50-19 (July 29, 2019 ) - Harm Reduction Series: Probation Officer
ACIN I-28-19 (July 22, 2019) - Harm Reduction Series: Social Worker
ACIN I- 31-22 (April 8, 2022) - Harm Reduction Series: Caregiver

UC Davis training - Webcourses available soon!

Foundations of Harm Reduction
Advanced Application of Harm Reduction

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Harm Reduction & Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children & Youth: Bench Cards

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Harm Reduction Bench Cards

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Pre-reading: Review these cards in advance to learn more about CSE and harm reduction
Card A: Key Laws & Definitions: Harm Reduction and Commercial Sexual exploitation of Children and Youth
Card B: Language Matters
Card C: Putting Harm Reduction Into Practice in the Courtroom With Youth Impacted by CSE

On the bench: Have these cards with you in court to prompt your discussions about particular topics with youth and parties
Card D: Harm Reduction Through Goal Setting and Services for Youth and Families Impacted by CSE
Card E: Housing and Placement
Card F: Common Orders

Mae -

Recognition that additional guidance is needed for judicial officers working with young people impacted by CSE

Developed by NCYL in collaboration with Judicial Council of CA judicial officers, Children’s Law Center, advocates, advisory board members, community based organizations

To develop additional guidance targeted at judicial officers given their unique role as conveners, decision makers, and tone setters in the courtroom →

First part - recognixing not everyone has basic info about CSE and HR - provides background information about CSEC, harm reduction definitions,
Second part - to be used on the bench - s specific examples of sample questions that judges and others in the courtroom can with young people in a range of domains - health care, mental health, school, placement, relationships.

Only available to judges right now through JCC - accompanies guidance from CDSS for all disciplines

This document complelents the CDSS courtroom guidance

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Sample Questions

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Use questions as guides and tailor appropriately
Do not ask about exploitation and other sensitive topics explicitly on the record
Judicial officers and MDT partners can use these questions to explore the ways in which past and current trauma, including CSE, impacts behavior, needs, and progress, and prompt the MDT partners to act
Goal is not to pry or stigmatize the youth but rather to understand, inform decisions, and reduce harm moving forward

Health Care
Does the youth experience any barriers to accessing care, including because of their CSE (e.g. exploiter in doctor’s office during visit, history of abuse from doctors, no Medi-Cal card, etc.)?
If CSE is connected to the youth’s need for gender-affirming care (such as trading sex for hormones), how can this need be met another way?
Does the youth have access to reproductive health information and care? What support does the youth need to access it?
Does the youth know how to access these services while away from home or care or while currently experiencing CSE?

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Panelists

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Hon. Lawrence C. King

Chief Judge, Morongo Band of Mission Indians Tribal Court

April Grayson

Senior Policy Manager, Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition

Sawan Vaden

Executive Director, Community Against Sexual Harm

Hon. Annabelle Cortez, Judge, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles

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Breakout Session

Meeting participants will be split into breakout rooms based on their discipline

Thank you to our panelists for a rich and informative discussion. We now want an opportunity to break into discipline specific spaces to further discuss the best ways to incorporate these practices into our work with young people and families impacted by CSE.

We will launch another POLL

As you can tell by our numbers, we have a large group here today. Unfortunately the breakout sessions are going to be slightly larger than we anticipated. We hope to capture a rich discussion and am sure there will be follow up.

We are going to break you out into rooms and there will be a facilitator who will take notes - we will be syntehsizing learnings and sharing those out. If you have further information you’d like to share, please email Darla Chavez

Darla amanda, we’re ready to breakout

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Breakout Session Questions

In what ways have you employed harm reduction within your discipline? How do these approaches need to be tailored based on your discipline?
Based on what you have heard today, what are 1-2 harm reduction strategies that you can employ in the future?

If harm reduction is a new or emerging concept for you, identify 1-2 strategies you can start using immediately
If you have used HR in the past, how might you adapt your strategies to be more effective?

What challenges or barriers do you see to implementing HR strategies in the courtroom?
What do you think judges can do to support all parties in employing harm reduction practices?

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Closing

Kate Walker Brown, Co-Chair, Attorney, Senior Director, National Center for Youth Law

Leslie Heimov, Co-Chair, Executive Director, Children’s Law Center of California

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Thank You!

Kate Walker Brown

kwalker@youthlaw.org

Leslie Heimov

heimovl@clcla.org

Mae Ackerman Brimberg

mabrimberg@youthlaw.org

April Grayson

april@sisterwarriors.org

Sawan Vaden

svaden@cashsac.org

Vida Castaneda

vida.castaneda@jud.ca.gov