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Newsweek
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
The Rising Cost of Ignoring Juvenile Justice Reform
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Massachusetts has long been recognized as a leader in juvenile justice reform. Yet, the latest findings from the Juvenile Justice Policy and Data (JJPAD) Board's 2024 Annual Report paint a troubling picture: We are backsliding. Americans believe law enforcement officers are trained and have policies for interacting with youth. For the most part, they have neither. What we have right now is justice by geography. Different law enforcement agencies have different levels of policies and training for encounters with young people. Massachusetts youth deserve better, and so do the police officers tasked with keeping everyone safe. The same can be said for youth and police nationwide. Cars speed by a parked police cruiser in Chelsea, Mass., on April 21, 2023. Cars speed by a parked police cruiser in Chelsea, Mass., on April 21, 2023. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images The Massachusetts JJPAD numbers show the devastating and disproportionate impacts of this reality. In its latest report released in late March, the JJPAD shows that the use of physical custody for youths increased over the previous year—a 17 percent hike in pretrial detention and 7 percent bump in arrests. These increases are not related to spikes in violent crimes committed by young people; they are the result of law enforcement's decision to arrest young people for misdemeanors—or minor offenses—instead of issuing citations, warnings, or some other informal sanction. Race also plays a deepening and disturbing role. The JJPAD's report showed Black youth were nearly 5.5 times more likely to be arrested compared to white youth in Massachusetts, and nearly three times more likely to be issued a summons. Overnight arrest admissions? Those went up by 13 and 16 percent for Black and Latino youth, respectively, while overnight arrest admissions for white youth decreased22 percent. Study after study proves that even brief encounters with the system can have devastating effects on a young person's well-being and future. Being a kid is hard, and policing kids is hard. It's past time that we as a commonwealth take full action to turn the tides toward developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed and equitable training, and policies to ensure best outcomes when law enforcement and youth interact. The commonwealth has worked hard to promote the use of informal and formal diversion by police, clerk magistrates, district attorneys, and judges. Diversion is especially appropriate for youth who commit low-level offenses. But the data from this report suggests that law enforcement officials are increasingly opting to go the "tough on crime" route with adolescents of color. The state's Justice, Equity and Accountability in Law Enforcement Act, passed in December 2020, set out to achieve clear goals—establishing the nation's first model law enforcement policies for interactions with youth. The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission continues to develop those vital policies now—juvenile operations standards required for certification of law enforcement agencies. A clear road map exists. The Cambridge-based national policy and training nonprofit organization Strategies for Youth developed the 12 Model Law Enforcement Policies for Youth Interaction report in 2023, available to any and all law enforcement agencies. Statewide guidance on youth-specific policing policies, including guidance on race and immigration status, use of force, non-custodial interviews, and more, would help position our next generation for better outcomes. After all, when encounters between police and youth go wrong, we all pay the price. The JJPAD report is yet another wake-up call. It's time for Massachusetts to lead in the name of juvenile justice, and for other states to act now as well. A pragmatic, feasible solution is within our grasp; we just need to reach for it. Lisa Thurau is the founder and executive director of Strategies for Youth, a national policy and training organization based in Cambridge dedicated to improving law enforcement and youth interactions through developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed, and equitable training. Lisa has advocated for youth as an attorney for more than 20 years. Larry E. Ellison is a retired Boston Police Department detective and former president of MAMLEO, the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, Inc. The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
Boston Globe
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Delinquent teens need a faster justice system
The Trial Court told the editorial board, in response to a public records request, that in fiscal 2024, just 40 percent of juvenile delinquency cases were cleared on time (similar to 42.4 percent in fiscal 2023 and 37.5 percent in fiscal 2022). Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up 'Since coming out of COVID, there have been delays,' Duci Goncalves, deputy chief counsel for the Youth Advocacy Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, told the editorial board. Goncalves said delays are particularly problematic in smaller courts that may have only one or two judges to hear both delinquency cases and care and protection cases, which involve custody of children who were abused or neglected. (While delinquency cases can be postponed due to emergency custody hearings, custody hearings are also often delayed, Advertisement When a case drags on, a teenager may be held in a detention facility away from their school and family. They may be subjected to pretrial conditions like GPS monitoring or home confinement, which can severely limit their activities, including healthy behaviors like exercising or seeing friends. Advertisement There are legitimate reasons cases can be delayed to ensure due process. Evidence might need scientific testing. Witnesses, victims, or interpreters may be unavailable. Attorneys might be seeking therapeutic services for clients. Motion hearings take time. Because the state's 2018 criminal justice reform law limited prosecution for less serious cases, more Juvenile Court cases now involve felonies. But one way to reduce unnecessary administrative delays is to hire more judges. According to While working to reduce delays, attorneys and judges should also seek ways to make the pretrial period less onerous. This could mean sending more teens to rehabilitation-focused diversion programs that keep them out of court. Once a teen enters the system, Melissa Threadgill, senior director of policy and implementation for the Office of the Child Advocate, which chairs the JJPAD board, said conditions should be individualized and relate to the alleged offense. For example, drug testing may only make sense for drug-related offenses. The Advertisement Additionally, JJPAD's annual report Limiting detention to cases when there is a public safety or flight risk would let more teens stay in school and maintain community ties while awaiting trial. Notably, in fiscal 2024, 87 percent of youth detained pretrial weren't committed to the juvenile justice system after their case was resolved — suggesting they could safely live in the community. Policy makers often consider issues by thinking about adults' needs — the time it takes to file a motion or balance a judge's schedule. But in kid time, the difference between having a case pending for six months or nine months can be the difference between missing part of one school year or part of two. As Threadgill says, 'We really have to think about what impact does this have on kids.' Advertisement Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us
