MONTPELIER, Vt, March 19- A new coalition of Vermont and national civil rights and criminal justice reform organizations, advocates, and public officials called Treat Youth Like Youth is urging lawmakers to support the implementation of Vermont’s Raise the Age law. 

Passed in 2018, Raise the Age legislation made Vermont the first state in the nation to expand family court jurisdiction to apply to people up to the age of 20, with exceptions for some violent offenses. The expanded jurisdiction was set to roll out in phases over several years. So far eighteen-year-olds have been tried in juvenile court since 2020 with enormous success. Unfortunately, the state has delayed 19-year-olds into the system three times. On April 1st, Raise the Age is expected to phase in for 19- year-olds up, but the Vermont House has voted to pause implementation for the fourth time until July 1, 2017. 

The Coalition calls on the Vermont Senate to amend H.2 by removing the pause on Raise the Age and supporting the provision that raises the minimum age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 10 to 12. 

Raise the Age is already making Vermont safer. As Columbia University’s Justice Lab reported, the number of juvenile delinquency cases declined during the first phase of Raise the Age in Vermont. This occurred even after 18-year-olds were incorporated into family court. The Department for Children and Families has had more than seven years to prepare for this transition. The Coalition argues that we cannot delay any longer. DCF has been instrumental in making Raise the Age an incredible success so far, and the Coalition urges the Legislature to fulfill DCF’s funding requests to invest in additional family services workers for juveniles and expand the restorative justice and non-residential treatment programs.

Jordan Souder, Policy Advocate, ACLU of Vermont: “The Raise the Age initiative is nation leading, data driven legislation that has shown success in supporting young people, promoting public safety, and reducing recidivism. Time and again, the majority of Vermonters have said they want to see investments in people and communities, not mass incarceration. By fully implementing Raise the Age legislation, justice involved youth can be held accountable in ways that are personally meaningful and actually makes Vermont communities safer.”

Liz Ryan, former Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice, Biden Administration: “Prosecuting young people in adult criminal court harms youth and decreases public safety. Vermont’s Raise the Age law is crucial to reducing the criminalization of young people and should be fully implemented.”

Tom Dalton, Executive Director, Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform: “Having worked with justice-involved young people over a period of decades in Vermont, it is very clear to me that the path to success and community safety is through interventions that address root causes, not criminalization and incarceration.”

Jay Blitzman, First Justice of the Middlesex Division of the Massachusetts Juvenile Court (Retired): “Raise the Age improves public safety outcomes while supporting positive youth development. Let’s follow the science on children and young adults. Decades of developmental research demonstrate that even most persistent and aggressive young persons will self-desist from serious misconduct with neurological and social maturity as they enter their 20s. Transitioning late teens into the more rehabilitative juvenile system will accelerate the process of maturational desistance.” 

Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights: “Raise the Age is a compassionate, effective way to invest in young people’s future. When children and young adults are tried in the juvenile justice system instead of adult criminal court, they are far less likely to commit crimes in the future. By prioritizing age-appropriate interventions, we can show the United States that youth should be rehabilitated – not criminalized and incarcerated.”

The Coalition includes groups such as ACLU Vermont, NAACP—New England Area Conference, Children’s Defense Fund, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. Members also include former Administrators of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the Department of Justice under three presidents: Liz Ryan, Biden Administration; Shay Bilchik, Clinton Administration; and John Rector, Carter Administration. Advocates such as Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s and Robert Sand, former State’s Attorney for Windsor County, have also joined the coalition.

Read the Coalition’s letter to the Legislature here. 

Media Contacts: 

Nikhil Goyal, founder of Treat Youth Like Youth: ngoyal2013@gmail.com

Emily Hagan-Howe, Communications Director, ACLU of Vermont: ehaganhowe@acluvt.org