Juvenile justice that restores families

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Guiding and protecting young people is one of our most morally significant obligations as a society. That’s precisely the goal of the juvenile justice system. Understanding that young people make mistakes, we seek to hold them accountable while offering a chance for transformation.

While many in Tennessee’s juvenile justice system are working hard to achieve this goal, we need to give them the tools to succeed.

The Joint Ad-Hoc Tennessee Blue Ribbon Task Force on Juvenile Justice, convened last year, found that many youths in the system lack access to critical services and are often removed from their homes. In some counties, even minor offenses like truancy can result in detention. And, the majority of those in state custody have committed only lowommendations level offenses and don’t pose a threat to their communities.

In fact, though youth crime has fallen by a quarter in the past decade, young people are still removed from home and placed in state-funded facilities at similar rates. This disrupts education, contributes to family instability, and depresses important community connections that lead to employment and pro-social behavior.

In addition to these social costs, out of home placements disproportionately affect black and Hispanic youths. In almost every case, less expensive, communitybased alternatives to incarceration are more effective. And yet, these alternatives to incarceration don’t exist in every community.

Right now, legislators can enact reforms that would make the state’s juvenile justice system more effective, more restorative, and better for families and communities.

The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2018 (HB 2271/SB 2261) takes up key rec- from the Task Force, prioritizing public safety while increasing opportunities for community-based accountability.

This proposal takes a more effective approach by prescribing methods that are proven to work, limiting the use of out-of-home placement to more serious offenses, and aiming to get youth back on the right track.

This is the right approach. Whenever possible, young people should be held accountable for their actions in ways that allow them to continue their education and keep them connected to the positive influences in their communities, like churches and mentors.

These alternatives to incarceration reduce recidivism, especially when families are involved. In response, the local church should embrace opportunities to mentor, guide, and invest in young people and their families.

Keeping young people out of juvenile justice facilities is not only the right thing to do, it is also less expensive and more effective.

Russell Moore is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Craig DeRoche is senior vice president of advocacy and public policy at Prison Fellowship.

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