Status Offense Reform
Every year, thousands of young people are arrested, brought to court, and held in locked juvenile facilities for minor conflicts with the law—behaviors like skipping school and running away—that may be cause for concern, but are only illegal for kids under the age of 18. Recent research confirms what seems like common sense: using the justice system to respond to this behavior wastes taxpayer dollars and harms kids and families.
Communities want to find ways to keep these kids out of handcuffs and safely at home with their families. Most often, the supports these kids and families need are better delivered by schools, counseling centers, or child welfare services, instead of courts. Vera's Center on Youth Justice helps communities learn what works and apply it to their own challenges. Our goal is to show that these kids can be more successful if we keep them away from the justice system completely.
Featured
Keeping Kids Out of Court
A primer on status offenses
Every year, thousands of kids face charges in court, are held in detention, and end up in locked facilities for status offenses. This infographic explores the problem and explains how we can safely keep kids out of the justice system.
Girls Matter
Centering Gender in Status Offense Reform Efforts
Status Offense Reform Center
Providing community-based alternatives to court and juvenile justice system involvement
Every year, thousands of kids are brought to court or even placed in locked facilities for misbehaviors like truancy, running away, and curfew violations—also known as status offenses—which are only illegal for kids under the age of 18. While these behaviors can be typical in adolescence, they can also be symptomatic of underlying issues at home or ...
Project
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Krista Larson
Related Work
Girls Matter
Ending girls’ incarceration requires communities to treat girls fairly and with respect—that means eliminating reliance on law enforcement and the courts when girls run away, skip school, or disobey a parent.
Just Kids: When Misbehaving Is a Crime
Skipping School Can Get Kids Locked Up?
Every year, thousands of American children are shuffled through the justice system for misbehaviors like skipping school and running away – referred to as “status offenses”—when their families, schools, and communities don’t know how else to help them. While it may seem like the best option, research shows that the juvenile system just isn’t equipp ...
Series: Gender and Justice in America
How the Criminalization of Adolescence Fuels the School-to-Prison Pipeline
In her new play on the school-to-prison pipeline, Notes from the Field, actress and playwright Anna Deveare Smith reenacts interviews with 17 people from the education and criminal justice systems. The school-to-prison pipeline is a national trend in which children are pushed out of public schools and into the juvenile justice system. Smith’s play ...
Blog Post
Kristi DiLallo
Series: It Takes a Village
How police benefit from diversion strategies
Vera’s recent report, It Takes a Village: Diversion Resources for Police and Families, details how diversion programs provide families and communities resources to keep young people safe, on track, and out of the criminal justice system. But young people aren’t the only ones who benefit from diversion strategies. Police officers experience benefits ...
Blog Post
Erin Dostal Kuller
Diversion Resources for Police and Families
Many communities are frustrated with how to respond to youth “acting out”—running away from home, skipping school, violating curfew, or disobeying adults—as well as how to respond to young people getting arrested for more serious actions like fighting and other events stemming from family conflict. This project describes new and exciting models for ...
Project
Karen Tamis
It Takes a Village
Diversion Resources for Police and Families
Police frequently encounter youth running away from home, violating curfew, skipping school, and chronically disobeying adults—misbehaviors that can often stem from family conflict and that do not require justice involvement. When alternatives are not available, however, these behaviors can lead to arrests or detention. Families dealing with diffic ...
Series: Gender and Justice in America
Ending the unjust treatment of girls charged with minor offenses
Since the early 90s, research has shown that girls in the juvenile justice system are more likely than their male peers to be detained for status offenses and minor delinquent behavior. The findings of a recent study by researchers at the University of Texas provides strong evidence that, despite dramatic reform over the last 15 years, the tendency ...
Blog Post
Lindsay Rosenthal
Struggle for Identity and Inclusion
Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth in New York City
Vera partnered with Fordham Law School’s Feerick Center for Social Justice to conduct a research study that explores the needs and experiences of New York City’s unaccompanied immigrant youth. The study, Struggle for Identity and Inclusion: Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth in New York City, draws upon the personal expertise of these youth and system s ...
Tackling Truancy
This infographic explores the root causes of truancy (unexplained school absence) and promising practices to keep kids safely in school.
Status Offense Toolkit
Resources for developing and implementing effective status offense reform strategies
Many jurisdictions across the U.S. seek to reform punitive responses to status offenses, and implement support-focused strategies instead. However, transforming a juvenile-justice oriented status offense system—one that is likely complex— into one that is community based, family focused, and service oriented can be challenging. Questions commonly ...
Justice in Transition-NYC
Bringing Justice Home - Initiatives Rooted in Community
The mayoral transition in New York City provides an opportunity to reexamine the city's justice systems and ask if community needs that advance fairness and public safety are being met. This panel discussion explores the potential for initiatives embedded in communities where people have high rates of contact with the justice system—and how they ai ...