Today two new reports were released highlighting how juvenile justice reforms are improving outcomes for youth and their families, increasing public safety and reducing costs in five states.
Campaign for Youth Justice responded to the reports by saying,
'Removing young people who engage in delinquent behavior from their homes and communities, and incarcerating them in locked facilities is no longer the status quo in five states, according to two new reports released today by the Justice Policy Institute.'
The Justice Policy Institute issued "Juvenile Justice Reform in Connecticut," which highlights the past two decades of Connecticut's successful efforts to improve responses to youth who engage in delinquent behavior and to end the automatic prosecution of 16 and 17 year-olds in adult court, as well as to reduce the number of youth placed into detention centers, correctional training schools, and/or other residential facilities.
The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission issued "Raising the Age of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction" documenting how Illinois ended the automatic prosecution of all 17 year olds charged with misdemeanors.
As a result of this effort, Illinois improved public safety and decreased long-term costs. The commission recommends that,
'to promote a juvenile justice system focused on public safety, youth rehabilitation, fairness, and fiscal responsibility, Illinois should immediately adopt legislation expanding the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to include 17 year-olds charged with felonies.'
The full report can be found here.
The Justice Policy Institute is a D.C.-based think-tank committed to reducing society's reliance on incarceration.
The report," Juvenile Justice Reform in Connecticut: How Collaboration and Commitment Have Improved Public Safety and Outcomes for Youth" claims that the state reduced residential commitments from 680 in 2000 to 216 in 2011 (nearly 70%), even though most 16 year-olds, who were previously treated as adults are now handled in the juvenile system.
The state has also closed one of its three state-operated detention centers, and reduced the under 18 population in Connecticut's adult prisons from 403 in Jan. 2007 to 151 in July 2012.
Meanwhile, Connecticut also expanded its investment in evidence-based, family focused adolescent treatment programs from $300,000 in 2000 to $39 million in 2009.
The full report can be found here.
Campaign for Youth Justice concludes,
'Over the past several years, we have witnessed a steady stream of research demonstrating unequivocally that trying and sentencing children in adult court does not reduce crime; in fact, it does just the opposite. Trying youth as adults has both a detrimental impact on the youth tried as adults and harms public safety.'
Check out CFYJ's blog.
Listen to the Campaign's Radio Tour on the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
See the Campaign's YouTube channel.
Watch the Campaign for Youth Justice: News of Youth TV story
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