As we observe Reentry Week, don’t forget about an often-overlooked segment of the population – our justice-involved youth.

On average, there are 472 youth in Ohio’s state juvenile correctional facilities each day along with hundreds of additional youth in local detention facilities as they await sentencing or other case resolutions. Despite this significant number of incarcerated youth throughout Ohio, our communities fail to offer comprehensive reentry services for our justice-involved youth.  

This has detrimental effects on Black and brown communities who are overrepresented at every stage of the juvenile justice system.

 

Incarcerated youth are removed from their families, communities, and schools for extended periods of time during their peak adolescent years, which research has shown is harmful to their overall well-being. This has detrimental effects on Black and brown communities who are overrepresented at every stage of the juvenile justice system. As they return to their community, these young people often struggle as they face several barriers to important resources and a lack of support services to address their complex needs. 

Justice-involved youth face many of the same collateral consequences as adults reentering society including limited access to housing and employment. However, there are additional collateral consequences that directly affect youth and their families. Collateral consequences for justice-involved youth can negatively impact their entire family. Although rehabilitation is the primary goal of the juvenile justice system, these collateral consequences have long-term effects that hinder rehabilitation and prevent a positive transition into adulthood. 

Collateral consequences for justice-involved youth can negatively impact their entire family.

 

For example, ALL youth are entitled to a quality education. Yet, juvenile court involvement can prevent a youth from attending their local public school and may even result in suspension or expulsion. Youth returning home may have difficulty reenrolling in school or transferring credits earned in a detention center or juvenile correctional facility, which often causes further interruption and delays to their education. These barriers regularly discourage justice-involved youth from reenrolling in school or completing their education. Studies have shown that about one third of youth returning home from a residential facility reenroll in school and two-thirds of youth do not return to school at all.  

Furthermore, many justice-involved youth have mental and behavioral health needs, which is often exacerbated by the traumatic experience of incarceration. In fact, research has shown that “young people who were incarcerated for one year or more were over four times more likely to experience depression and twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts in adulthood than comparable peers who were not incarcerated.” Therefore, youth are often coming home with complex needs that require robust community-based programming and support services.  

Given these unique challenges, we must avoid simply including youth reentry under the umbrella of adult reentry. Youth need coordinated wraparound reentry services to ensure successful reintegration into family, school, the community, and the workforce. This includes mental health services, substance abuse treatment, education support, employment services, housing support, life skills, social and family support, and mentoring.  

Youth reentry should also prioritize restorative justice practices, which bring together victims, community members, and justice-involved youth to examine the harm caused by a crime and ways to address the harm. This model of justice encourages accountability, healing, and reconnecting with the community while also focusing on the root causes of the harm(s).  

 

Restorative justice practices can include victim-offender mediation or dialogue, community conferencing, or peace circles, which each involve varying levels of youth, victim, and community member involvement. An analysis of restorative justice programs found that these programs “moderately reduced future delinquent behavior, increased victim satisfaction and increased perceptions of fairness in the justice system.” While restorative justice practices have traditionally focused on the early stages of the juvenile justice system, they can also anchor a young person’s reintegration into their community. 

Evidence suggests that youth-focused reentry is likely to have positive long-term outcomes. According to The Sentencing Project, studies have shown that an “alarming share of young people who are incarcerated in youth corrections facilities later get arrest, convicted, and incarcerated in adulthood.” Thus, comprehensive reentry programming within the juvenile justice system would provide an opportunity to connect individuals with services and supports to prevent future justice system involvement.  

The juvenile justice system is anchored in the belief that youth have greater potential for rehabilitation, but this cannot be accomplished without successful reintegration into the community. If we insist on incarcerating our youth despite overwhelming evidence that it is harmful to their well-being, we must be prepared to support these young people as they return to our communities. As we observe reentry week and raise awareness about how to support our returning citizens, I encourage you to uplift the needs of our justice-involved youth and ask, “What about our kids?”