The Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL) (Louisiana)

Dana Kaplan. Since becoming the Executive Director in the fall of 2007, Dana Kaplan has been steadfast in her dedication to the reform of Louisiana’s juvenile justice system.  Prior to joining JJPL, Dana Kaplan was a Soros Justice Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York City, focused on detention reform.  At CCR, Ms. Kaplan worked with community groups… See full bio.

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Story: Treated Like Trash: Before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Parish detained 100-200 youth on average daily, most of them waiting to go before a judge for low-level offenses. As Katrina approached in August 2005, authorities at the two local detention centers transported youth to the adult Orleans Parish Prison. There, youth endured flooding and exposure to toxins in their cells; a harrowing evacuation; and, upon arrival at a local bridge – further deprivation of food, water and medical care, heat exposure, violence and psychological stress. And, despite FEMA declaring the Youth Study Center in New Orleans more than 50 percent uninhabitable, youth were eventually moved back into the detention facility. Our member groups Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL), Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Youth (FFLIC) and others joined to push against the system, while also participating in reform tables with system stakeholders led by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the W. Haywood Burns Institute (BI). In 2008, JJPL filed a class action lawsuit against New Orleans and the school board. Triumph: New Orleans now boasts the only stand-alone and nonprofit juvenile public defender’s office in the country, Juvenile Regional Services, which was established out of the work of attorneys during the aftermath of Katrina. Young detainees the the Youth Study Center are provided day and night schooling, and the population of detained youth that has dropped to around 25. But such progress may be at risk with the building of a new facility. FEMA is limited by statute to only replace facilities. In the case of the Youth Study Center, that means an 82-bed facility. Director Hong said he has proposed a “work-around” plan, meaning only 40 secure beds — with the remaining 42 reserved for runaways, transitional housing and mental health beds. Concern remains regarding a new 82-bed facility that would also house youth who should not be in custody of the juvenile justice system (runaways, mental health, homeless). Groups are also fighting against youth being sent to adult prisons; the criminalization of marginalized populations, namely Black youths (99 percent of those detained) and LGBTQ youth; and punitive school disciplinary policies. These issues are echoed in juvenile justice systems nationwide.

Evidence of Impact Summary:

The reform efforts pursued by the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana have helped to decrease the number of violent juvenile facilities and have increased the quality of life for incarcerated juveniles.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

Experts have noted that the JJPL has been successful because of its ability to engage credibly with policymakers and its creative, knowledgeable, and dedicated staff.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

According to experts, the JJPL could be improved with better marketing and more staff members.
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Since becoming the Executive Director in the fall of 2007, Dana Kaplan has been steadfast in her dedication to the reform of Louisiana’s juvenile justice system.  Prior to joining JJPL, Dana Kaplan was a Soros Justice Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York City, focused on detention reform.  At CCR, Ms. Kaplan worked with community groups and government on developing alternatives to detention and downsizing local jails in states including Tennessee, California, Ohio, New Orleans, and New York.  She was also the State-wide Organizer for the New York Campaign for Telephone Justice, a partnership between CCR and two prison family organizations that successfully reduced the cost of all phone calls from New York State prisons by fifty percent.  Ms. Kaplan has also been on staff at the Brooklyn-based Prison Moratorium Project, where her efforts helped stop the construction of a youth prison in upstate New York and two youth jail expansions in New York City.  She has consulted with national organizations including The National Resource Center on Prisons and Communities and the National Education Association (NEA), developing a curriculum for teachers on “Education not Incarceration”.  Dana holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley.

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