raise the age: Young people sit in small courtroom.

New York Raise The Age Is Making Strides Where It Counts

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Four days after New York’s new Raise the Age law began to be implemented in October, I was fortunate to be invited to observe the Youthpart in Brooklyn. The Youthpart is a hybrid court that was created to address 16- and 17-year-olds charged with felonies.

violent offenders: A police officer releasing a detainee's handcuffs. Headshots:

Crime Victims Agree Violent Offenders Should Also Get Community Treatment

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Over the last two decades, the juvenile justice system has been celebrated for driving a decline in the use of confinement as lawmakers and practitioners changed policies and practices to move away from costly and ineffective use of secure facilities.

community-based alternatives: Angry rebellious teenager being analyzed by a counselor as other teens sit nearby, psychotherapy concept

Georgia Reforms Gave Us More Choices, Better Results

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As Bill Gates famously said in his book, “The Road Ahead” (1996), “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.”

Judge Tom Smith, in his judicial robes over blue shirt and red tie, leans on his bench in the courtroom.

In 2 Arkansas Counties, Jailing Youth Increasingly Used As Last Resort

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In 2008, Wendy Jones’ teenage son, Corby, began getting into trouble with the law: skipping school, doing drugs, stealing. His behavior soon landed him in Benton County, Arkansas, juvenile court, followed by a stay in the local juvenile detention center, or JDC, a 36-bed, jail-like facility in Bentonville, not far from the home offices of Walmart.

Arkansas’s Jailed Youth Population Declines

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Two decades ago, Arkansas had the lowest delinquent youth confinement rate in the region and one of the lowest in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.