Raise the Age has turned reform schools into violence-ridden asylums

New York City Juvenile Detention Centers They have become invaded madhouses where the worst teenage inmates rule, thanks to Raise the Age and other state “reforms.”

According to last week Heartbreaking report from the Investigation DepartmentRaise the Age, which requires 16- and 17-year-old offenders to be housed in juvenile detention centers, not jails, and allows them to stay until age 21, combined with bail reforms that encapsulate the worst of the age. The admission of the worst adolescent offenders to juvenile facilities has “fundamentally altered” the population of the two juvenile facilities, Horizon and Crossroads, with an overload of “older” detainees “facing more serious and violent charges.”

The facilities are now bursting at the seams; Since Raise the Age went into effect, there has been an “880% increase in residents ages 16-21 in Horizon and a 444% increase in residents ages 16-21 in Crossroads.”

The number of inmates registered in murder the charges quadrupled.

And the older, larger, more dangerous population is completely overwhelming staff: “Almost every staff member the DOI spoke to consistently stated, in essence, that (the Administration for Children’s Services) was not prepared for the new demographics of the population, particularly the age, physical size, and violent criminal history of residents.”

And then the “residents run the facilities.”

The culture of out-of-control violence includes a case in which two inmates “attacked a third resident with a razor blade” and another in which an inmate “repeatedly struck” an employee in the head and “wrapped his neck with arms.” .”

Most damning: “After an incident in which a resident cut an employee, staff reported
I heard the resident say, ‘retrenchment season has just started and there are 17 of us, so nothing will happen.’”

Straight from the horse’s mouth: Dangerous criminals know they will skid, no matter what terror they unleash.

Absolutely ridiculous disciplinary policies make it worse: when violence or misconduct breaks out, ACS responds with “the least intrusive and restrictive intervention necessary,” including “non-physical” tactics like “nonverbal communication, paraverbal communication,”123 active listening and verbal intervention”: methods more appropriate for cherub-faced preschoolers than law-breaking teenagers.

The DOI mildly rates these methods as “insufficient to maintain order on the premises.”

Duh: The state flooded reformatories with teenagers suspected of murder and expected staff to gently educate them into well-adjusted, upstanding citizens.

The ACS also employed a point system, “EFFORT,” to reward good behavior and punish bad behavior.

How did that work? Well a teenager went crazy No receiving STRIVE points and “punched a staff member in the face, chest and abdomen.”

The DOI’s 15 recommendations include stricter disciplinary methods and “weapon defense training and self-defense training” for staff; Reported assaults have decreased since some of these reforms were implemented.

But there is only one true long-term solution: violent older teens must be separated from the rest of the detained youth population.

Teenagers detained on serious charges do not belong in reform schools, where they will be treated with kid gloves; They belong to adult prisons.

and they clearly They should not be allowed to squat in a juvenile detention center until they are 21 years old.

Repeal or at least fix Raise the age.