HARRISBURG, Pa. — A state task force has found imperfections and inconsistencies in outcomes of children in the juvenile justice system, specifically among Black children.
After a 16-month review of the juvenile justice system, the task force found many ineffective practices and widespread racial disparities in how youth were treated.
For example, Black children were more likely than white children to be removed from their homes and prosecuted in adult court, and the use of treatment and detention varied from county to county.
The task force is recommending a number of changes, which it says will reduce the state's higher than average youth incarceration rate. It includes:
- Expanding community-based interventions
- Raising the minimum age for which someone can be tried as an adult for serious offenses from 14 to 16
- Repealing a 1995 law that automatically requires adult prosecution in more serious cases
- And eliminating fines and most court costs and fees
"This is transformative if we apply every recommendation," State Sen. Anthony Williams, (D-Delaware/Philadelphia Counties) said. "This is not about leaning left to bad kids, this is about directing responsibly what the Commonwealth has done under Quaker establishment and that every human being is valued and every human being has possibility."
The recommendations by the task force are expected to reduce the number of young people in residential facilities by 40% and save the state $81 million.
The Wolf Administration is looking into changes it can make on its own. State lawmakers with the task force plan to introduce legislation to make the recommended changes soon.