From Fox News to The New York Times, media coverage over the past few years has sounded the alarm about a purported increase in violent crime among kids. However, a new report finds those claims have been false or largely overstated.

The research by The Sentencing Project reveals youth violent crime rates, in categories from murder to robbery, declined nationwide from 2019 to 2020. Ann McCullough, a Youth Justice Wisconsin project director, said her organization has noted similar declines locally, but said unfounded stereotypes still can have long-term repercussions.

"Negative stereotypes about youth, service gaps and structural racism are the foundation for the youth-related criminal-justice policy and system we have today," she said, "nationally and in Wisconsin."

To keep kids out of the system, the report's authors propose diverting young people accused of crimes into restorative justice programs, placing more counselors in schools instead of police, and providing positive development programs for kids who have gone through the system.

With the impending closure of the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth prisons, McCullough said she believes now is the time to open a new chapter in Wisconsin's youth corrections system. However, she added, alternative programs are facing significant staffing shortages, an issue she contended could be remedied in part by new investments from lawmakers.

"Public health models for violence prevention work," she said, "but they also need to be funded and supported at the same level as our correctional system in order to see a significant change."

According to data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, juvenile arrests in Wisconsin dropped by about 70% from 2011 to 2020. Richard Mendel, who wrote the report as a senior research fellow for The Sentencing Project report, said national crime rates among kids and teens have been declining for years.

"Over the past 20 years, the share of arrests of kids under 18 has fallen by more than half, and they continue to fall," he said. "A lot of this has been tied to the pandemic. The share of crimes that were committed by kids went down - and despite that, we're seeing this narrative of youth crime 'out of control.'"

The Sentencing Project report only includes data up to 2020, the most recent year the statistics are publicly available, and its authors acknowledged future data may reveal that youth crime rates have increased since then. However, they noted that would be understandable, given the mental-health impacts of the pandemic on kids, and said they think it shouldn't serve as rationale to push for more punitive juvenile-justice policies.

The number of children locked behind bars in Alabama has declined, but their advocates said more needs to be done to create alternatives to incarceration.

A one-day count of detained youths in 2021 was nearly 25,000 nationwide, which is a 60% decline over the past decade, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Josh Rovner, director of youth justice for The Sentencing Project, said while the trend is positive, he does not expect it to continue. He pointed out at least part of the decrease was because of the pandemic.

"When you think about the things that kids get arrested for, it's often school-based referrals," Rovner observed. "And if virtual school is happening, then kids aren't going to be referred by their school resource officers. They're not going to be shoplifting if all the stores are closed; they're not going to be getting into fights f they're all staying at home."

In Alabama, a one-day count of young people behind bars in 2019 saw almost 800 detained. By 2021, the number had dropped to 678. Data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation's study showed young people released from correctional confinement have high rates of rearrest and new convictions.

Research has shown children who are incarcerated often experience significant long-term consequences, which Rovner noted persist into adulthood.

"Whether there's one child who is locked up -- or 10,000 or 100,000 -- it's important to realize just how toxic these facilities are for kids," Rovner contended. "They have much worse outcomes, not only on their education and career achievements, but also much more likely to reoffend."

Recognizing the adverse effects, experts and activists are asking for a more compassionate approach to juvenile justice. Reforms focusing on rehabilitation and community-based support systems have proven to be more effective in addressing the underlying issues than locking juveniles up.

Minnesota is about to implement several juvenile justice system reforms that are being cheered by advocates.

The public-safety omnibus bill approved by lawmakers this spring includes several changes. A key provision puts strict limits on the use of solitary confinement in juvenile detention centers.

Sarah Davis, director of the children and families division at the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, said it means the practice can't be used as a form of punishment, and called it a critically important move in seeking improvements.

"Solitary confinement -- in particular, solitary confinement of youths -- is a fundamental human-rights violation," she said, "and many other states have already banned or significantly limited the practice."

Other changes include limiting strip searches and prohibiting life sentences without parole for defendants who were minors at the time of the offense. Addressing these matters has sometimes resulted in tension in Minnesota, including a recent Hennepin County case that involved a controversial plea deal for two teens. But Davis said these reforms still leave plenty of room for meaningful accountability.

Davis said the timing of these reforms is also important because some law-enforcement agencies are handling cases involving defendants as young as 10 and 11 years old.

"The behaviors that they're engaging in are a form of communication about unmet needs," she said, "and we want to make sure that we are engaging in practices and that we have policies grounded in what we know to be evidence-based about supporting youth and positive youth development."

The public-safety bill also creates the Office of Restorative Practices for youths, which provides technical support and training for implementing these models. Restorative justice often involves participation from those harmed by the crime, family members and the community to determine a proper way for the young defendant to make amends. Defendants have to articulate how an agreement will deter them from getting in trouble again.


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Attorneys, state employees and juvenile justice reform advocates will gather virtually Friday to receive updates on county pretrial juvenile detention centers in Illinois, and discuss the findings.

In 2021, the Illinois Legislature authorized inspections at all 17 county-based detention centers across the state.

Luis Klein, executive director of the Juvenile Justice Initiative of Illinois, said the summit will, for the first time, evaluate the effectiveness of the state standards for the facilities.

"They're incredibly important because there's not a whole lot of oversight on these detention centers," Klein explained. "There are standards, which they are expected to meet, but there's no ombudsperson for these detention centers, and they really are allowed to police themselves."

John Albright with the Illinois Department of Justice will present the report on the inspections. Participants will also hear from Richard Mendel with The Sentencing Project, on his study of youth incarceration. And Lisa Jacobs with the Loyola University School of Law will lead a discussion of the report.

Klein pointed out each of the 17 detention centers is not run or managed directly by the Department of Juvenile Justice, but by the counties where they are located. He emphasized the study is critical because, in past years, there has been a lack of transparency and lack of oversight over conditions in the centers.

"These reports are really important because it's the first time that we really get a standard by which these detention centers are being judged," Klein noted. "And then, a look at how are they doing, based on these basic and rudimentary standards."