Youth First: It's Time to Shut Down Youth Prisons
Recently, governors in Connecticut, Illinois, and Virginia have pushed to shut down youth prisons in their states. Juvenile Law Center is a national partner with Youth First, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with their state advocates on policy reforms and supporting their work with our litigation advocacy. Today, we’re proud to build on that partnership by supporting Youth First’s new national initiative to reform youth justice in America.
Youth prisons don’t work because they go against everything we know about what young people need in order to grow into healthy adults. And the overwhelming evidence shows that there are alternatives to youth prisons that are more fair, more safe, and more economically sound. Youth First recently released two new tools highlighting national support for juvenile justice reform:
- An Interactive Map of America’s oldest and largest youth prisons. Search for facilities near you and use the online tools to share the images and data on your social networks.
- A New National Poll that shows a clear majority of Americans, across party lines, believe that youth prisons should be closed and replaced with rehabilitation and prevention programs.
It’s time to close youth prisons and invest in the community-based alternatives that are proven to work.