In 2017, New York State passed the Raise the Age (RTA) law with the clear goal of fundamentally changing how we treat young people in the criminal legal system. The law was designed to prevent youths –– 17 years old and under –– from being incarcerated in adult prisons and jails. This shift was intended to focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
However, as I have seen in my visits to juvenile detention facilities and learned from the young people I represent, the allocation of resources under the RTA program is not meeting these important goals. It is time to rethink how we approach these critical issues.
While the state has allocated significant funds to support youth under the RTA law, most RTA funds have not been used as intended. Indeed, rather than being used for community programs that could prevent youth from entering the criminal legal system, RTA funds are being mostly used for detention and probation.
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For example, New York City currently has $340 million earmarked for expanding detention capacity — funding that could be better spent supporting youth programs that work to prevent incarceration in the first place.
These programs, such as those focused on education, school-based intervention, employment, mentorship, and restorative justice, have been shown to improve outcomes for youth, reduce recidivism, and help young people reintegrate into society successfully. If we are truly committed to the spirit of Raise the Age, this is where our focus should be.
In addition, in some counties in the State, more than 80 percent of the approved spending on RTA implementation was used for detention, placement and law enforcement –– with sometimes as little as 10 percent used for community-based services and programs.
The shift away from incarceration and toward community-based services is not just a moral imperative; it is also a practical solution to the challenges our criminal legal system faces. Reducing the number of young people in detention facilities will help alleviate the overcrowding in detention facilities and, most importantly, create a path for young people to build better futures.
Research supports the effectiveness of these approaches. For example, meta-analysis by the National Institute of Corrections found that diversion programs for youth are significantly more successful than traditional juvenile justice systems in reducing recidivism, particularly when focusing on medium to high-risk youth.
Studies by the Urban Institute have also demonstrated that incorporating social workers into public defense teams leads to improved sentencing outcomes and better client engagement with community services. For instance, research assessing a social worker model of public defense found positive effects on judicial considerations in sentencing and enhanced attorney-client relationships.
To truly honor the promise of Raise the Age, we must not only invest in programs and community-based organization but also in public defense, particularly those emphasizing early and adolescent defense.
Investing in public defender offices enables the integration of social workers and mitigation specialists, but because of limited funds, many public defense offices can assign social workers to only a fraction of their cases, leaving numerous clients without comprehensive support.
By directing resources to these offices, we can ensure that each case benefits from the expertise of social workers and mitigation specialists, who play a crucial role in addressing the underlying issues contributing to legal system involvement.
And by reallocating funds to strengthen public defense, we can provide comprehensive support to our youth, addressing the root causes of legal system involvement and promoting more equitable outcomes. This investment is not merely a shift in resources but a commitment to a justice system that prioritizes rehabilitation and support over punishment.
The City has an opportunity to take action now to ensure that the funds designated for Raise the Age are directed where they will have the greatest impact: supporting young people, reducing incarceration, and building stronger, safer communities.
Orayne Williams is the Director of Adolescent Defense Project at The Bronx Defenders
Thanks for championing the need to redirect funds constructively towards building life skills and improving the outcomes for youth caught up in the criminal justice system. Caging people begets caging people; nothing more, nothing less.