Advocates in California say that for too long the hazardous health consequences of incarcerating juveniles in the state’s justice system have been obscured by overly punitive rhetoric around public safety.

The authors describe a court process that offers few opportunities for youth to deal with childhood trauma that often leads to involvement with the justice system. When it comes to transfers of youth to the adult system, racial disparities are widespread. As a result, they say, high rates of incarceration have done little to improve public safety and have damaging long-term consequences when it comes to youth development.

In “Juvenile Injustice: Charging Youth as Adults is Ineffective, Biased, and Harmful,” researchers used a health impact assessment (HIA) to make a public health case for why juveniles should not be sent to adult courts. HIAs use a variety of research methods to measure the health impact of policies, including collaboration with organizations and populations affected by the policies.

To read more of Jeremy Loudenback's article, please click here.

To access the 56 page report, please see attached.