According to statistics, approximately two million juveniles under the age of 18 in the United States are arrested each year. Over 600,000 of them are placed in detention centers annually and approximately 95,000 reside in secure juvenile correctional settings on any given day. Further numbers suggest that the United States leads all industrialized nations worldwide in juvenile incarcerations. With criminal records also come detrimental consequences including: difficulty of finding employment, loss of public housing, immigration concerns, increased drop-out rates and the potential of recidivism.
Research on the development of the juvenile brain and the negative consequences that come with focusing solely on commitment into a facility make
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Examples include Louisiana’s “Prosecutor’s Early Intervention Program” PEIP), Pennsylvania’s “Youth Aid Panels” and Washington’s “TeamChild” program – all of which provide a comprehensive plan for juveniles that come into contact with law enforcement to be diverted into a program if they have committed a nonviolent offense, thereby offering the juvenile an opportunity to avoid further contact within the court system. Many states have also enacted laws that limit commitments for specific crimes and if commitment into a facility does occur, the length of time the youth spends there is also controlled. Additionally, some states such as California have banned state commitment for all low level and nonviolent …show more content…
To be clear, there are two options for diversion programs: pre-adjudication and post adjudication. Research across states that have implemented diversion programs highlight the success they’ve been able to obtain in keeping juveniles involvement within the system by addressing the many needs that are at times beyond court reach, all while decreasing recidivism with the hopes of providing a better future for the juvenile. The impact of confining a juvenile to a DYS facility can be detrimental on so many levels. Juveniles who are placed in the confinement of an agency such as DYS are said to be more likely to drop out of high school and reoffend. Detention in a facility can impede the process of a juvenile obtaining his or her high school diploma, and gaining meaningful employment, "cut[ting] a youth from the conventional norms and opportunities for growth that youth who remain in the community