Justice Policy Institute

Two New Reports Show Juvenile Confinement Reform in Five States

Spike Bradford, Richard A. Mendel
Published: February 27, 2013

Removing young people who engage in delinquent behavior from their homes and communities, and incarcerating them in locked facilties is no longer the status quo in five states, according to two new reports released today by the Justice Policy Institute.

Juvenile Justice Reform in Connecticut: How Collaboration and Commitment Have Improved Public Safety and Outcomes for Youth, in addition to Common Ground: Lessons learned from five states that reduced juvenile confinement by more than half, shed light on the pronounced trend toward reduced confinement of youth nationwide. Through a variety of methods, the reports find, Connecticut, Arizona, Minnesota, Louisiana, and Tennessee all reduced youth confinement by more than 50% between 2001 and 2010, with no resulting uptick in juvenile crime.
A deeper look at Connecticut’s juvenile justice system reforms shows that, through a system-wide culture change and major investments in evidence-based services, a previously wasteful, punitive, ineffective, and often abusive juvenile justice system was transformed into a national model, at no additional cost to taxpayers (after adjusting for inflation).