The Task Force on Transforming Juvenile Justice presents its findings and proposed changes to Governor Paterson today. Task Force chair Jeremy Travis, president of CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Gladys Carrion, commissioner of New York State's Office of Children and Family Services discuss the report and the future of juvenile justice.
Comments [9]
Most of these kids are violent offenders who are 15-16 years old and have had multiple contacts with the law by the time they get to a state facility. The worst of the worst go to state facilities. The rest go to private facilities or not into institutions at all. I wouldn't want these kids released early into my community. The staff are doing the best they can in a violent setting. The rate of employees filing workers compensation claims has increased to 19% in the last year and in the facilities it is double that.
I wish there were more opportunities for the previous comments to be made on the air in an open exchange with Commissioner Carrion. It would give her the opportunity to inform them that she is working on solutions at the family level through alternative to detention programs in the community. It would also allow her to explain that many of the kids who are incarcerated are locked up because they are poor—even if the crime was minor; wealthier or middle class kids who get arrested for vandalism are not sent upstate and locked away. Finally, for those who are worried about these kids being in their community, you should know that these kids are already in your community. The state is increasingly using community-based alternatives to detention and these alternatives are proven to work better than incarceration and at a lower cost. The fact that you don’t know the kids are already in your backyard just goes to show you that they are doing a good job of staying out of trouble.
I highly recommend that wnyc invite some representatives of alternative to detention programs for NY youth to speak on this issue more with the public.
I'm sure it would be better for the kids if they were rehabilitated in the community, but is it better for the community? As one of the people (in Newor City, not upstate) who would have to live with these 'misguided' kids, I'm not for bringing them home. Give upstate New York the jobs.
And the western ny politician knows that those kids are counted towards the population of her district.. i.e. more resources...
what are the % of kids locked up that are considered to not pose a threat to public safety?
free abortions for everyone!
The problem lies in the home. There is no family structure to work with. These children are not children, but products of broken homes and schools. The answer is in the home.
the parents should be jailed, not the kids. there is not enough responsibility put on the parents of these misguided kids.
These kids come from abusive homes and victimized again and again.
There is profit in the prison system and that needs to end.
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