INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Indiana News Service): Kids should not be kept behind bars, according to a new report examining the ineffectiveness of youth prisons in Indiana and other states.
The research from the Annie E. Casey Foundation pulls together evidence of the failings of youth correctional facilities and recommends they all be closed.
Casey president and CEO Patrick McCarthy said these prisons have high recidivism rates and do not improve long-term outcomes for young people:
“These institutions fail at protecting the community, they fail at turning young lives around, they are unconscionably expensive, they are prone to abuse, they defy reform and the bottom line is we have alternatives,” McCarthy explained.
McCarthy said kids are incarcerated for low-risk offenses and often don’t get the guidance and support they need to get back on track.
Sue Abderholden, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness said some states have started to send more kids into treatment instead of locking them up. She added she doesn’t believe kids learn much through punishment.
“Children’s brains aren’t really fully developed until about age 26, and kids, frankly, do dumb things,” she said. “And, I think part of the push for zero tolerance and those kinds of things have made us look at children as adults instead of as children. ”
The report also finds there’s an enormous financial toll for youth prisons. While costs vary, states pay on average about $90,000 a year for every youth in a juvenile facility.
