Members of Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC) spent the year learning about disparities in youth bindovers and pushing for better legal representation for children in the Cuyahoga County juvenile justice system.
And they’re not stopping anytime soon.
A bindover is a process where children, sometimes as young as 14, are transferred to adult court.
About a year ago, GCC brought about 300 community members together to share what they had learned about bindovers in Cuyahoga County and how they disproportionately affect Black children. Cuyahoga County transfers more children to adult court than Franklin and Hamilton counties combined.
“GCC is in for the long term on the issue of the injustice of the number of bindovers that are occurring in comparison with other urban counties,” said Diana Woodbridge, a member of the GCC bindovers team.
Since that December 2022 gathering at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, the group has talked to members of the county administration, judges, the county prosecutor and the county public defender as they continue to learn about the bindover process and how to best advocate for children going through the juvenile legal system.
Mandatory bindovers are required by law based on the age and seriousness of a crime.
Discretionary bindovers are based on a judge’s decision about whether a child can be rehabilitated in juvenile court.
After looking at bindover data and talking with the public defender and his juvenile division team, advocates lobbied the county – including County Executive Chris Ronayne – to assign the public defender’s office more cases.
Children facing a transfer to adult court who were represented by a public defender remained in juvenile court more often than if they were represented by an attorney paid for by their family or by a private attorney a judge picked for them, according to a report published earlier this month.
‘We really helped shift the narrative’
In November, the group went to Cuyahoga County Council to ask that members support a recommendation included in Ronayne’s budget that would have shifted $650,000 from the court to the public defender to increase its capacity for cases.
Council members ultimately did not shift the funds. However, council members voted to increase the public defender’s budget by almost $1.2 million. The office will use some of that increase to hire a “vertical defender” who will follow a child from juvenile court to adult court if they’re bound over, said Cullen Sweeney, Cuyahoga County chief public defender.
Keisha Krumm, lead organizer and executive director of GCC, said the group was disappointed that the county council shifted the funds back to the juvenile court. But they were pleased to see the council recognize the public defender’s request for more money.
County Council is also forming a committee to look into how it can play a role in supporting children in the juvenile justice system.
“I think we really helped to shift the narrative and make this a priority conversation in our community,” Krumm said.
Ronayne said while the funding shift he proposed wasn’t approved, he’s looking to 2024 to continue the conversation.
He also assigned a member of his administration to focus on the issue and find ways in which county administration can support GCC’s efforts, he said.
“Sometimes in public policy development, it takes more than one bite at the apple,” Ronayne said. “This may be two bites at the apple to get to where we really wanna go. But I think we’ve done right by the issue.”
‘We’re not going anywhere’
In the last two months, advocates have also attended juvenile court hearings for the many serious cases, observing and learning about the bindover process.
They’re looking for patterns in the court hearings. The GCC advocates also want to connect with more families of children being bound over.
“GCC has clergy if there are families that would like support through this process,” Woodbridge said. “Because we understand how awful this must be for families.”
Ryan Wallace, senior pastor of Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights, said they want to listen to families’ experiences. They want to make sure they’re on the right track as they keep pushing for changes in the juvenile justice system.
Krumm said the group will continue to lobby the juvenile court to get Cuyahoga County in line with other Ohio counties, where cases are almost always assigned to a public defender.
“We’re not going anywhere. We’re not gonna let up,” Krumm said. “And we’re gonna keep finding creative ways to create change around this issue.”