From banning conversion therapy for gay and trans youth to eliminating solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons, President Obama issued a slew of executive orders designed to protect at-risk youth over the past eight years. Now, advocates are worried that new executive orders will undo all that’s been done.
“There were a number of very favorable moves that came out under the Obama administration and under his leadership. Some of those can surely be undone by a President Trump,” said Marsha Levick, deputy director and chief counsel at the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia. “Initiatives that Obama implemented — including correctional education, a number of issues related to students with disabilities, executive order regarding solitary confinement — these are all fragile developments that we have all been led to believe can be undone by Trump on his own.”
It’s a concern echoed by Sage Learn, director of policy and advocacy at Boys and Girls Club of America. Learn points to mentoring initiatives, programs that address policing issues in youth populations, and resources that prevent juvenile delinquency and incarceration.
[For more of this story, written by Molly McCluskey, go to http://jjie.org/2017/01/09/vit...k-in-first-100-days/]
Comments (0)