Rehabilitation – The Key?

Rehabilitation, instead of incarceration, is being touted as a better way to handle juvenile offenders.  Matthew House, a divorce and family-law mediator in California, argues that detention and incarceration are pointless, overly expensive ways to manage juvenile lawbreakers. “Caging a wayward teen for a few years before releasing him back into society without remedying his behavior is foolhardy,” says House, who goes on to point out that half of kids who get imprisoned  end up reentering the system after getting out. House also claims rehabilitation is “eight times more financially effective, dollar for dollar, than incarceration.”

Read his op-ed piece in The Orange County Register. Photo courtesy abardwell