Gender-responsive practice and pregnant girls: A scoping review of America’s girls courts

Abstract

Abstract The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act was first established in 1974; however, it was not until its reauthorization in 1992 that juvenile justice programs were required to incorporate gender specific programming. No specific instructions were given on how to incorporate this programming into juvenile justice programs. One-way juvenile justice programs have chosen to incorporate more gender responsive programming is through the implementation of Girls’ Courts. These courts are designed to provide comprehensive programming to address girls’ differing life experiences, traumas, as well as their psychological, developmental, and social needs. This scoping review identifies Girls Court’s currently practicing in the U.S. and identifies any available information about their programming, including what is available to pregnant and parenting girls, and outcomes. There are currently eight operating Girls’ Courts throughout the U.S. Of those eight courts, only three mention specific services offered to pregnant and parenting girls, and only four have reports of program outcomes. Future research should further examine outcomes and efficacy of these programs, as well as ways to incorporate more comprehensive pregnancy and parenting programs for justice involved girls.