With the intense controversy and scrutiny over electronic monitoring in New Orleans, we at LCCR decided to investigate ankle monitors, how and why they are used in the juvenile legal system, and how electronic monitoring affects our kids. In this series of three articles, we will: explore EM’s benefits and limitations, examine the role Risk Assessment Instruments play in EM participation, and review EM’s current usage and controversy in New Orleans. 

We first met “Deondre” as an 11th grader arrested for carrying a gun for his own protection. Deondre had been struggling for a while—he wasn’t attending school, feared being robbed or killed in his neighborhood, and was working at a smoothie shop to support himself and his baby son. Here's how LCCR helped.

We first met “Amira” as a high school senior arrested for simple battery. While navigating her court case, she aged out of the foster care system, leaving her homeless and without a safety net. Here's how LCCR helped.

With the recent deaths of French Quarter tour guide Kristie Thibodeaux and 15-year-old Jvoine Elow Jr., New Orleans’ juvenile electronic monitoring program is facing unprecedented scrutiny given its small size. The city is proposing an additional $2 million dollars in spending to expand the program from its current level of ~20 kids to 200, and […]

In Orleans Parish, the eligibility criteria for juvenile Electronic Monitoring (EM) clearly requires a child to have a RAI score of 10-11. Unclear, however, is how these scores are calculated and what they mean for public safety.   But what is an RAI? Risk Assessment Instruments are tools used to assess a defendant’s risk to themselves […]

We first met "Rodrigo" back in 2021. At the time, he was a 15-year-old who had been in and out of the legal system since he was a pre-teen. He struggled with school, had a volatile relationship with his mother, and had serious unmet mental health needs. As is often the case with kids who have been repeatedly arrested, instead of getting help with his underlying issues, Rodrigo just got more jail time. That's where we stepped in to help.

When we first met "Tyrell," he was a high school senior struggling with his mental health and disconnected from school. He was arrested for stealing his uncle's car and crashing it. Here's how we helped him to enroll in college and improve his mental health.

“There are so many existing, false, and damaging narratives that need to be confronted,” says Cierra Chenier, who recently started in LCCR’s brand-new Strategic Storyteller role. “There are also many positive narratives about Black youth that need to be uplifted.” As the Strategic Storyteller, Cierra will be leading LCCR’s efforts to combat the harmful narratives surrounding Black youth.

We are proud to report that Shon Williams, LCCR's Reentry Specialist, was recently accepted into the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Emerging Leaders Program. This program is designed to cultivate leadership skills and systems-level thinking among nonprofit leaders with a focus on sustainability and community impact.

We first met “Gerard” as a 10th grader who had been arrested for sleeping in a house that he thought was unoccupied. Instead of offering the support he so desperately needed, the legal system put him in jail. Here’s how we helped Gerard secure his release and escape homelessness.