| dc.description.abstract |
Three main findings from this meeting are identified and discussed. First, youth who have been transferred to the adult corrections system recidivate at a higher rate than those managed in the juvenile justice system. Second, pretrial, post-conviction, and community-supervision corrections systems face significant challenges in keeping juveniles safe in the adult corrections system, while effectively providing cost-effective rehabilitation. This suggests that the transfer of juveniles to adult correctional institutions and supervisory systems increases the difficulty of achieving positive attitudinal and behavioral changes for juveniles who have been transferred to corrections systems for adults. Third, in addressing these challenges, a number of States and localities have developed innovative ways of managing youth who have been charged, convicted, and committed to corrections management under the adult criminal justice system. An overview of the current system explains that there are various legal mechanisms a judge or prosecutor can choose in transferring a youth charged with a particular crime to the adult system. Similarly, the research on adolescent development that has driven so many recent changes in juvenile justice statutes does not provide a “bright line” for a decision as to when a 15-, 16-, or 17-year-old youth may have that combination of impulse control and reason that determines whether or not he/she should be considered an adult for the purposes of criminal justice processing. This monograph focuses on all youth under the age of 18 who are processed under the adult criminal justice system. |
