Orleans Parish Juvenile Court judges and leaders from the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center (JJIC) presented 2025 goals on Oct. 28, asking the council to continue funding specialty courts, expand need‑based screening at intake and help launch a New Orleans East prevention pilot.

Chief Judge Candace Bates Anderson and juvenile court staff told the Joint Criminal Justice & Budget Committee that juvenile intakes are down overall but remain concentrated during school hours — a trend they said links truancy to later delinquency. The court described three 2024 priorities it has implemented: a youth mental‑health court, a truancy initiative (Fence/FINDS) and a handgun intervention (gun court) proposal. The judges urged more funding for pre‑screening youth at intake so courts can match young people to appropriate interventions earlier.

Why it matters: Judges argued that early, targeted interventions reduce recidivism and that investments in school reporting, community supports and specialized programs can prevent youth from entering the justice system. The court cited data showing a larger share of arrest intakes occurring between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and asked the council to back initiatives that direct state and community resources upstream.

JJIC updates and Eastside pilot: JJIC Director Stella Zemet and fiscal staff described JJIC’s 2024 accomplishments — completed camera upgrades, a new training coordinator and expanded community partner programming — and said a New Orleans East conflict‑resolution pilot (requested ARPA funding) will be a priority for 2025. JJIC reported 100 new admits in the quarter, 92% male and 92% Black, and said the modal length of stay is two days even as the longest stay exceeded a year for a small number of cases.

Need‑based screening and services: Juvenile Court judges and JJIC asked the council to support need‑based screening at the point of entry to identify mental‑health, substance‑use, educational and other needs earlier and to expand capacity for interventions, including handgun intervention programming modeled on national examples. The judges also said additional community‑based respite housing, mobile mental‑health and reentry supports require state‑level partnerships and funding.

What they asked the council to do: Focus funding on pretrial and prevention services, support a structured roll‑out of the New Orleans East pilot, and work with the state (Office of Juvenile Justice) to expand contracting options and placements for youth in need of nonsecure care.

Ending: Judges and JJIC leaders thanked council members for support and urged a combined, cross‑agency approach — schools, juvenile court, community partners and state agencies — to keep youths in school and out of the justice system.