Metropolitan Congregations United
4501 Westminster Place
St. Louis, MO, 63108
Phone: 314-367-3484
Web: http://mcustl.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MCUStLouis/
Twitter: @MCUStLouis
Organizational Profile
Metropolitan Congregations United is an interdenominational, multi-racial community organization of religious congregations in the St. Louis Metropolitan Region that are working for a common purpose: to create a better life for all residents.
MCU operates on the belief that all people should have access to a living wage, quality education, good housing, affordable health care, and a safe place to raise children. Yet, existing public policies often seem to focus on encouraging and supporting these elements at the region’s edges at the expense of the urban core. Public policy, has become part of the problem rather than a source of solutions. Systemic change is needed to give citizens, especially lower income families in the urban core, a greater voice in how public policy decisions are made and how resources are allocated in the region.
One solution to this problem is metropolitan organizing: creating coordinated efforts that help individuals become informed about issues affecting the region and encourage them to take an active role in influencing public policy. To this end, MCU was formed to teach citizens how to:
- Gain access to decision-makers.
- Bring greater attention to their needs.
- Create urgency in the community to revitalize the urban core.
- Impact the social, political, environmental, and economic decisions that affect their lives.
YOUTH JUSTICE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ALUMNI MEMBERS
Candace Johnson | Email
Locale: MissouriFound 33 matches.
-
Youth Justice Reform Roundup | January 2017
A roundup of publications news stories, and resources related to youth justice reform.
-
Missouri dooms countless children to the school-to-prison pipeline
Tags: Missouri | Collateral Consequences | Detention | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Media | Reports
The school-to-prison pipeline is about to get worse. Missouri will soon charge students who get into fights with felonies. A Missouri state statute that goes into effect on Jan. 1 will no longer treat fights in schools or buses as a minor offense, regardless of a young person’s age or grade. Instead, School Resource Officers (SROs) and local law enforcement will now intervene by arresting and charging them with assault in the third degree — a Class E felony.
-
Parents, advocates plea for changes in Missouri's juvenile justice system
Tags: Missouri | Youth in the Adult System | Advocacy | Media | Presentations
Missouri is one of only seven states in the nation that has not passed a bill to raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 18, according to the Campaign for Youth Justice.
-
Youth Justice Reform Roundup | October 2016
A roundup of member-related publications and news stories; school-to-prison pipeline items; resources, and campaign materials for California's Prop. 57.
-
Metropolitan Congregations for St. Louis, Break the Pipeline press packet, May 2016
Tags: Missouri | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | General System Reform | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Media
Press packet for launch of campaign to end the criminalization of youth of color.
-
The Dangers of Municipal Courts for Youth
While youth justice reformers work diligently to ensure that juvenile courts live up to this purpose, there also exists the growing problem of “shadow” courts: municipal courts that allow law enforcement to sidestep the youth justice system—with potentially serious consequences.
-
Youth Justice Reform Roundup | November 2015
News, resources, and opportunities in the field of youth justice reform - November, 2015.
-
Racial Discrimination & Failure of Due Process Among Constitutional Violations in St. Louis Family Court, DOJ Report Says
Following a nearly two-year investigation, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has released a report documenting "a number of constitutional violations" in the St. Louis County Family Court, including racial discrimination, failure to provide adequate counsel, and failure to provide due process.
-
DOJ Report: Investigation of the St. Louis Family Court in St. Louis, Missouri
Tags: Missouri | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | General System Reform | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Reports
Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department today announced its findings regarding the St. Louis County Family Court. The Justice Department found that the family court fails to provide constitutionally required due process to children appearing for delinquency proceedings, and that the court's administration of juvenile justice discriminates against Black children.
-
Op-ed: Robbed of childhood and chances -- Ferguson and beyond
Tags: Missouri | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | Media
Op-ed by Mae Quinn in St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Too many kids of color are robbed of their innocence by inhumane police practices and handed reduced life chances simply because of the color of their skin."
-
Missouri S.B. 36 -
Tags: Missouri | Institutional Conditions | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Text of Missouri S.B. 36, 2013, or "Jonathan's Law," which provides new guidelines expanding the possibility of dual jurisdiction for youth in the adult justice system.
-
Meet the New Members: Kansas, Missouri
Introduction to NJJN's newest members: Kansas Appleseed, and Friends Organizing for Reform of Juvenile Justice (FORJ).
-
Open letter to Mayor of Ferguson: Amnesty would make amends
Tags: Missouri | General System Reform | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Media
Letter to Mayor of Ferguson, MO re: reforming municipal court systems and their ongoing cycle of prosecution, financial penalty, warrant, arrest and jail with specific reference to impact on youth of color.
-
Op-ed: Reflections on Justice After Ferguson, MO: When Will Youth of Color Receive the Same Due Process as Officer Darren Wilson?
Tags: Missouri | National | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | General System Reform | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Media
Marsha Levick and Mae Quinn: If you had to choose between the protections afforded Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson and the treatment provided to most young black males in America, which would you demand for your child?
-
Our Eyes Are on Ferguson, Missouri
Statement from NJJN Executive Committee Co-Chairs Kim Dvorchak and Jody Owens regarding the tragic recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, that led to the death of teen Mike Brown.
-
E-Newsletter: Meet NJJN's New Members in Arkansas and Missouri
PDF of NJJN's January 22, 2015 e-newsletter
-
The Comeback and Coming-from-Behind States: An Update on Youth Incarceration in the United States
Tags: California | Connecticut | Illinois | Missouri | Mississippi | Nebraska | New York | Ohio | South Dakota | Texas | Washington | Wisconsin | Wyoming | National | Deinstitutionalization | NJJN Publications
-
E-Newsletter: Nebraska Passes Comprehensive Juvenile Justice Reform Bill
E-Newsletter sent out June 14. Includes: - Nebraska's New Juvenile Reform Bill - Massachusetts House Approves "Raise the Age" bill - Missouri Legislature Expands Youth Services - Missouri Bill Poised to Take Youth off Online Sex Offender Registry
-
Missouri Legislature Unanimously Expands Youth Services for Some Teens Tried As Adults
The Missouri legislature passed S.B. 36, a bill that would allow some youth tried as adults to remain in the custody of Missouri's Department of Youth Services (DYS) so they can be housed in a youth-oriented facility and receive a range of education and counseling services unavailable to adult offenders.
-
Missouri Expands Program Allowing Certain Youth Convicted as Adults to Receive Juvenile Disposition, S.B. 36
Tags: Missouri | Crossover and Dual Jurisdiction Youth | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Stemming from the tragic suicide of a 17-year-old boy who had been sentenced as an adult, was held in isolation in an adult prison, and was awaiting transfer to a notoriously abusive adult prison, the Missouri Legislature passed Jonathan’s Law, which expands the availability of Missouri’s dual jurisdiction program for youth convicted as adults. The dual jurisdiction program allows youth convicted as adults to have their adult criminal sentence suspended and to instead receive a juvenile disposition. The law requires judges to consider giving a juvenile disposition to youth who have been convicted as adults; if judges choose not to give a juvenile disposition—despite acceptance of the youth by the Division of Youth Services (DYS)—they must make findings on the record as to their reasons for imposing an adult sentence. All judges in Missouri must also now order a DYS evaluation for youth who are transferred to adult court to help give all youth an opportunity to qualify for the dual jurisdiction program. The law extends the age of eligibility for the dual jurisdiction program from 17 years to 17 years and six months, helping to ensure youth are not deprived of the option simply because of delays inherent to the court system. Additionally, the law removes the “once an adult, always an adult” for youth who were transferred to adult court, but not convicted. S.B. 36, signed into law June 12, 2013; effective August 28, 2013.
-
E-Newsletter: IL Passes "Raise-the-Age"
NJJN's newsletter from May 30, 2013.
-
Juvenile Justice Reform Roundup | May 16, 2013
Browse new juvenile justice publications on quality legal representation in Missouri, family involvement, the dangers of placing youth who have committed sex offenses on registries, and more.
-
Missouri: Justice Rationed, An Assessment of Access to Counsel and Quality of Juvenile Defense Representation in Delinquency Proceedings
Tags: Missouri | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Youth in the Adult System | Reports | Partner Publications
The National Juvenile Defender Center provides policy makers and juvenile defense leaders with the tools to identify system barriers to quality representation in delinquency proceedings, highlights best practices and provides recommendations for implementation strategies for improving Missouri's indigent defense delivery system.
-
E-Newsletter: New York Brings Youth Home
New York overhauls its juvenile justice system; Wisconsin proposes to move 17-year-olds to juvenile court; the Supreme Court hears arguments on sentencing kids to die in prison; our Missouri member makes strides on disproportionate minority contact. Plus, take our quick poll on juvenile justice information online!
-
Missouri Supreme Court Mandates Use of Juvenile Detention Assessment Instrument, Court Operating Rule 28, April 8, 2011
Tags: Missouri | Detention | Risk Assessment and Screening | Court Decisions and Related Documents
The Missouri Supreme Court mandated that as of January 1, 2012, all youth facing detention receive a risk score through Missouri's new juvenile detention assessment instrument in order to determine their pre-adjudication placement. The court states that generally youth should not be held in secure detention unless they present a risk to public safety or may fail to appear in court for their hearings. The instrument is to be used to assist in making a decision as to whether a youth should be placed in a secure detention facility, placed in an alternative to detention, or released. The instrument is a written checklist used to rate each youth for specific detention-related risks and was developed to address the inappropriate detention of youth based on race, gender, or offense. The court's order also directs the state courts administrator to provide training to all circuits on the use of the instrument, and requires circuits using the instrument to keep and report data. Court Operating Rule 28, April 8, 2011.
-
The Missouri Model: Reinventing the Process of Rehabilitating Youthful Offenders, Richard A. Mendel, Annie E. Casey Foundation
Tags: Missouri | Deinstitutionalization | General System Reform | Reports
Report profiling the key tenets and practices of the "Missouri Model," specifically: (1) small and non-prisonlike facilities, close to home; (2) individual care within a group treatment model; (3) safety through relationships and supervision, not correctional coercion; (4) building skills for success; (5) families as partners; and (6) focus on aftercare.
-
Missouri System Treats Juvenile Offenders with Lighter Hand, New York Times
Tags: Missouri | Institutional Conditions | Media
Article highlighting successful reforms in the Missouri juvenile justice system.
-
Missouri Division of Youth Services Wins Innovations in American Government Award, Press Release
Tags: Missouri | Institutional Conditions | Reports
The Missouri Division of Youth Services serves youth offenders in small, dormitory settings and takes a therapeutic approach, viewing youth as a direct product of their experiences and capable of turning their lives around through a step by step change process. Through ongoing group therapy, dedicated staff, relationships with the court system, and strong community support in the form of liaison councils and neighborhood advisory boards, the program cites measurable results in halting the cycle of juvenile crime. Not only does the program note significant reductions in violence while youth are enrolled in DYS, over 90 percent of youth avoid further incarceration for three years or more after graduating from the program.
-
Lawsuit Filed Over Treatment of Girls at State Reform Schools in Mississippi, Adam Nossiter, New York Times
Tags: Missouri | Girls | Media
New York Times article about a lawsuit filed on behalf of female youth offenders who were subjected to abusive conditions at their Mississippi reform school.
-
Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
Tags: Federal | Missouri | Youth in the Adult System | Court Decisions and Related Documents
U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing the death penalty for crimes committed while under the age of 18.
-
Ethnic and Gender Equity in Missouri Juvenile Court Decisions: Preliminary Findings, National Council on Crime and Delinquency
Tags: Missouri | Racial and Ethnic Disparities | Research
Study examining decision points in the juvenile court process and comparing decisions according to the ethnicity and gender of youth. Study is focused on addressing two primary questions: (1) is there disproportionate representation by ethnicity or gender at any decision point in the juvenile court process and (2) if there is disproportionate representation of minorities or females, are there referral or youth characteristics correlated with ethnicity or gender and are contributing to minority and/or female over-representation at a stage of the juvenile court process?
-
Comparison of Colorado, Texas and Missouri Juvenile Rehabilitation Programs, Pendulum Foundation
Tags: Colorado | Missouri | Texas | General System Reform | Reports
Review of facilities and operations, transfer, sentencing procedures, recidivism rates, expenditures, and cost-effectiveness.
-
Celebrating 100 Years of Juvenile Justice in Missouri, 1903-2003, Missouri Juvenile Justice Association
Tags: Missouri | General System Reform | Reports
Report chronicling the history of the juvenile justice system in Missouri, profiling key juvenile code statutes, and summarizing a vision for the future.