Proposal boosts age for juvenile offenders

By Jason King
Assistant Communications Director

Members of the NCACC Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee expressed concerns at their March 25 meeting with a proposal that would change the age at which an offender enters adult court jurisdiction from 16 to 18.

The proposal was one of several that emerged from a study by the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission (SPAC) on youthful offenders. The recommendation to raise the age threshold generated companion bills in the House (H492) and Senate (S1445) during the 2007 legislative session, but neither bill progressed in committee.

North Carolina and New York are the only states that try 16-year-olds as adults, and the Governor’s Crime Commission has recently begun a study of the issue.

“I’m not sold that we need to up the age,” said Gates County Vice Chair David Brown, a probation officer who cited the financial impact such a move would have on the juvenile justice system. Roughly 12,000 offenders would transfer out of the adult system and be reclassified as juveniles if the proposal were to become law, saving the adult system roughly a prison’s worth of inmates, according to Karen Calhoun, a senior research and policy associate with SPAC.

Durham County Board Chair Ellen Reckhow said lowering the age would create the perception of the system being soft on 16- and 17-year-old offenders.

“If you’re going to get this to pass, it needs a lot of meat on the bones,” she said.

In its report, SPAC found that 14 percent of offenders age 16-17 were convicted of felonies, and 16 percent of those convictions were for violent felonies.

Citing research that claims the part of the human brain that makes judgment calls and planning decisions does not fully develop until the early to mid-20s, Calhoun said that SPAC members felt 16- and 17-year-olds would be better served in a “treatment” environment.

“The deeper the juvenile went into the system, the higher the rate of recidivism,” she said. Reckhow pointed out that offenders who went further into the system had committed more serious crimes, and of course had a higher likelihood of getting back into trouble.

Another recommendation was to “create a task force to produce a detailed road map for implementation of the new law.”

“We really felt like we laid the foundation with this report,” Calhoun said.

SPAC was created by the General Assembly in 1990 and charged with developing the structured sentencing laws that were implemented in 1994. Guilford County Commissioner Paul Gibson holds the NCACC’s seat on the 30-member commission. A few years ago, the commission was tasked with monitoring the juvenile justice system, and SPAC produces a biennial study of juvenile recidivism. The next study will be released in May 2009.

Visit the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission Web site at www.nccourts.org/Courts/CRS/Councils/spac/ for more information and the full “Report on Study of Youthful Offenders,” listed under Publications –> Study Reports.

Joan McAllister, state coordinator of the N.C. LINKS program, addressed the committee on how to help older youths successfully transition out of foster care.

McAllister listed seven items that are critical for youths to make a successful transition out of foster care: having sufficient income to live on; having safe and stable housing; having sufficient education and vocational training; avoiding high-risk behaviors; having a personal network of at least five caring, responsible adults; postponing parenthood; and having access to healthcare and health insurance.

LINKS services and resources are designed to help eligible youths achieve the seven outcomes through youth and caregiver assessments, service agreements designed with the youths, utilization of a youth’s resources and strengths, and special funds, such as athletics fees and specialized education.

Programs are customized for each participant. The program receives just $3.1 million in funding – $2.6 million from the federal government and a 20 percent match from the state – to allocate to all 100 county departments of social services. There is no county match.

Despite the scant resources, McAllister said youths who take part in LINKS achieve life-changing results.

“I think the best work that we do with these kids should not cost anything,” she said. “This is a program that has so much potential and does so much good.”

A 2007 LINKS survey of 97 reporting counties revealed that a little more than one-third of youths eligible for LINKS services had not obtained economic self-sufficiency, and 14 percent did not have stable housing.

“Statistically it’s good, but for those kids who have nowhere to go, it’s not good,” McAllister said.

Almost 27 percent had left school, and of those that had graduated from high school or received their GED, less than 57 percent had enrolled in a post-secondary education program. McAllister encouraged commissioners to think about ways they could help youths exiting foster care avoid high-risk behaviors, and to help strengthen personal support networks for these youths. Four out of 10 youths aging out of foster care could not identify five adults who could offer everyday or crisis support, according to the survey.

Learn more about the NC LINKS program at www.ncdhhs.gov/dss/links/.