NY: New York Needs to Erase the Age, Not Raise It (Opinion)
Imprint – June 12, 2023
In New York, foster youth are subjected to the “Raise the Age” policy, which prosecutes teens as adults for criminal offenses, causing older foster youth to be put in juvenile justice centers or detention facilities because they don’t have a proper family placement. This policy advocates and enforces increasing the age limit to 18 and older for putting youth into these prison facilities. However, we should not be raising the age. Instead, we should be erasing the age. Erasing the age creates a system with no age limit, instead of the “raise the age” approach, which feels like a three strikes-you’re-out rule. The first strike is to be alone, with no parental or guardian supervision. The second strike is your cultural background. The third strike is your criminal history and age. With these strikes against you, the “raise the age” policy enables a system built to help the youth fail. Without an age limit, we can help everyone from childhood to young adulthood stay out of these juvenile justice facilities and gain access to the resources they need to survive and thrive.
https://imprintnews.org/youth-voice/new-york-needs-to-erase-the-age-not-raise-the-age/241789