Dawn R. Wolfe at The Appeal on the outrage of youth incarceration in this country, specifically for nonviolent, noncriminal behaviors (as if children have the mental/emotional capacity to be judged as criminal in the first place).
—Erika
“Grace,” the 15-year-old Black girl whose incarceration in Michigan for failing to complete online school work drew national attention this summer, is one of thousands of children across the country who are incarcerated each year either for technical violations of probation or parole, or for what are known as status offenses—acts that are illegal only because of the child’s age.
Whether they are jailed for a technical violation or status offense, these children end up confined in a legal system that experts say is rife with racial disparities and provides few if any educational or therapeutic services.
“[Detained] children are not free to leave, the doors are often locked, and the range of services that are available are from nothing to mediocre around the country,” said Tim Curry, special counsel with the National Juvenile Defender Center.
In addition to being incarcerated for alleged crimes like drug offenses or committing an assault, children in the United States can also be jailed for technical violations of their probation—nonviolent, noncriminal behavior that a judge finds objectionable—or for violating what are known as valid court orders. Grace was jailed in mid-May for a technical violation of her probation after she didn’t complete court-ordered homework in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other children are incarcerated on “status offenses”—typical adolescent behaviors such as refusing to obey their parents, skipping school, running away, or experimenting with alcohol. These “offenses” are criminalized by law solely because of the age of the people engaged in them.
Experts say that most children who engage in status offenses don’t go on to commit serious crimes, but the damage done by incarcerating them for these behaviors can last well into adulthood. Studies have found that risks include depression, suicide or other self-harm, insurmountable debt, educational and professional instability, and an increased risk of future arrests for actual crimes.
Status offenses and technical violations are connected because “oftentimes young people on probation end up being locked up for breaking rules that are just symptomatic of adolescence,” said Steve Bishop, a senior associate with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
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