04
Dec
0
National Status Offense Standards Help Build Momentum for Reform
By Annie Salsich
Director, Center on Youth Justice at the Vera Institute of Justice
Momentum continues to build nationally for ways to limit the reach of the juvenile justice system, relying less on court interventions and incarceration and more on safe and effective community-based options. This momentum makes the experience of youth who commit status offenses—a range of behaviors, such as running away from home, skipping school, or violating curfew, which are prohibited under law only because of an individual’s status as a minor—all the more striking.
