BOSTON - The number of kids and teens detained in Massachusetts has decreased since the state started treating arrested 17-year-olds as juveniles rather than adults.

A new report from the Sentencing Project points out that prior to raising the age of criminal responsibility, it was expected to increase juvenile caseloads and overwhelm capacity in youth detention centers.

But Sana Fadel, deputy director of the Citizens for Juvenile Justice, notes that after a temporary increase in court caseloads, the numbers have gone down.

She said one reason is that the juvenile system has more of a focus on rehabilitation, and what she calls positive youth development.

"If you help young people mature," said Fadel, "you are much more likely to have them desist from crime and reoffending and actually having more positive outcomes. They need education, they need connection to family, they need skill sets, they need civic engagement and connection to society."

Since 2016, three years after the "raise the age" law passed, the number of detained youths in the Commonwealth has gone down more than 60%. And detention for 17-year-olds decreased by nearly 30%.

Fadel said a next step could be to raise the age even further.

Fadel said despite the progress, there are still stark racial disparities.

"We have our Black and Latino children much more likely to get deeper and deeper into the system than their white peers for similar behavior," said Fadel. "And as the system shrinks as the number of young people in the system shrinks, we see greater disparity."

Marcy Mistrett, senior fellow with the Sentencing Project, authored the report. She said advocates in several states are working to raise the age of criminal responsibility even higher than 18.

In Vermont, for instance, it is 19. Research has shown young people's brains are still developing until roughly age 25.

"With those emerging adults, we need to understand that young people are still very impulsive, still growing, still maturing," said Mistrett, "and they should get some of these protections extended to them."

The report notes that Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin are the only remaining states to automatically treat 17-year-olds as adults when they're arrested. It also recommends states and municipalities invest in community-based services rather than incarceration.

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.


get more stories like this via email

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."