We need to be kinder, fairer to our juveniles

In states across the country, juvenile justice systems are in need of reforming.  The U.S. has by far the highest juvenile detention and incarceration rate of any industrialized nation. Our juvenile correctional facilities are unsafe, expensive to operate and ineffective at reducing recidivism or preparing youth for a productive and successful future. Nearly 75 percent of incarcerated youth have not committed violent offenses. The majority of incarcerated young women are usually victims of childhood and sexual abuse, have become truant from school, or are chronic runaways.  “Kids for Cash,” an acclaimed documentary that tells a story of corruption in Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system, will be screened at The Moviehouse in Millerton on Feb. 1 at 11:15 a.m. Director Robert May will speak afterward. I urge people to go and learn about juvenile justice. Connecticut’s juvenile justice system was in crisis a decade ago. Today, it is in many ways a model — and certainly not plagued by the kinds of problems that were seen in Pennsylvania. Michael Lawlor, who directs criminal justice initiatives at the Office of Policy and Management, recently credited juvenile justice reforms with reducing adult crime and thus decreasing our prison population and saving the state money. Connecticut has been forward thinking about getting to the root causes of youthful misbehavior and correcting it early, rather than pushing young people into facilities that can function as “schools for crime.”In recent years, we have succeeded in getting many kids who have not committed actual delinquent acts, such as truants and runaways, into more appropriate programs that support families and address problem behaviors. We have raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction from 16 to 18, because research shows that sending young people to the adult criminal justice system puts them in harm’s way and only makes them more likely to reoffend.But our work is certainly not done in Connecticut. Significant racial disparities still persist. Children of color and economically disadvantaged youth are more likely to come into contact with the juvenile justice system and receive harsher treatment than their peers at nearly every stage of the system, including arrest, referral to juvenile court, detention, formal processing, waiver to adult court and being sent to out-of-home placement. Connecticut still shackles young people in the juvenile court as a default — without any finding that the child is a flight or safety risk. We also have failed to bring our juvenile sentencing laws in compliance with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings. While we have great programs in some regions to hold young people accountable without pulling them into the juvenile justice system, these alternatives are not available in all regions.Connecticut’s experience has shown that a smart, solutions-oriented approach to juvenile justice reduces crime, saves taxpayers money in the shortterm and positions our young people to be productive citizens in the longterm. It is something that deserves everyone’s attention. All kids deserve a chance to succeed, and indeed our shared prosperity as a state relies upon seeing that they get it.Roberta Willis is Connecticut’s state representative for the 64th Assembly District. She lives in Lakeville.