A recent Gallup poll found that 47% of Americans believe that juveniles should not be treated as adults in the justice system, marking a shift from two decades ago, when 65% in 2000 felt juveniles should be treated the same as adult criminals. This significant paradigm shift correlates with what reformists like myself have been clamoring for decades: Adult sanctions on young people is an abject policy failure that does not address underlying issues that causes juveniles to become offenders in the first place. Issues like disengagement with education, lack of economic power, systemic racism, and generational cycles of incarceration, poverty and violence.
The answer is simple: Youth involved at any point in the criminal justice system should require intervention and an on-ramp to an alternative path. Alternatives to incarceration work; especially when they include the right formula of robust case management, counseling, school visits, a paid internship or job training, support for scheduled court appearances, goal setting and exposure to career opportunities and job training.
I have seen first-hand teens, facing serious charges, taking accountability for their actions and ownership of their future. This happens when they are given real opportunity and the chance to be seen and heard. In New York, we have long advocated for the development of more programming that pulls court involved youth out the revolving door that is the incarceration system.
There is a profound link between exclusionary school practices and referrals to the juvenile court system. This connection has contributed to the overrepresentation of Black and Latino youth in the youth correctional system. The correlation between disengagement from school, academic failure, and delinquency underscores the school-to-prison pipeline, a nationwide system of local, state and federal education and public safety policies that push Black and Brown students out of school and into the criminal justice system.
We have addressed the multiple needs of court-involved youth with cross-sector collaborations. It is a collaborative process that includes mental health providers, agency partners, the business community and our court system to create programming that works as an alternative to incarceration and sentencing for young people like exalt, a nonprofit I lead that is committed to criminal justice avoidance, education progression and employability in high demand industries. We serve about 1,000 young people each year – this includes court-involved youth placed in our 21 week program and graduates who seek mentorship, job placement opportunities, guidance and community through our robust alumni network.
More Americans are realizing that incarceration and harsh punishment on our youth is not the answer. We can still make smarter policies; we can think bigger and more creatively; we can innovate instead of incarcerate.
Gisele Casto is the President and CEO of exalt.
