Since 1992, 45 states have passed or amended
legislation making it easier to prosecute juveniles as adults. The
result is that the number of youth under 18 confined in adult prisons
has more than doubled in the past decade. This phenomenon is challenging
the belief, enshrined in our justice system a century ago, that children
and young adolescents should be adjudicated and confined in a separate
system focused on their rehabilitation.
In 1997, the Bureau of Justice Assistance funded a
nationwide study of juveniles in adult correctional facilities to help
policymakers and criminal justice practitioners
form an effective response to this critical issue. Juveniles in Adult
Prisons and Jails: A National Assessment is the product of that study.
This report begins to answer important questions about this vulnerable
population: What is the extent of juvenile confinement in federal,
state, and local facilities? What types of facilities are used to house
juvenile offenders? What happens to juveniles in the adult system? Are
juveniles in adult facilities educated, treated for substance abuse, and
taught skills that will help them find a job after their incarceration?
Are prisons and jails protecting young offenders from physical, sexual,
and psychological abuse? What are the alternative strategies for housing
offenders sentenced to long terms in adult facilities?
As the findings of this study show, there are important
steps we can take now to improve the well-being of juvenile offenders in
adult facilities. We can develop specialized vocational, sex offender,
and substance abuse programs tailored
to the developmental needs of youth. We can ensure that staff in adult
facilities take seriously their federal mandate to provide regular and
special education services to youth in their care. And we can do much
more to ensure the safety and care of young offenders who interact with
adult offenders.
It is our hope that this work engages public officials,
administrators, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, scholars, and
other criminal justice practitioners in
a frank and meaningful discussion about the incarceration of juveniles
with adults.
Nancy E. Gist
Director
Bureau of Justice Assistance
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