HARRISBURG – The Sens. Camera Bartolotta (R-46) and Anthony Williams (D-8) today introduced the Juvenile Justice Policy Act, which aims to reduce Pennsylvania’s reliance on out-of-home placements for relatively low-level offenses and establish consistency across the state when courts divert youth cases.
Research shows that most youth are not on a path toward adult crime, and over-involvement in the juvenile justice system can increase their likelihood of reoffending. Yet most youth in the system have little or no prior history of delinquency, have not committed a felony or a person offense and do not score as high risk to reoffend. What’s more, hundreds of kids each year are automatically charged with adult crimes and punished in the adult system, all without prior review by a juvenile court judge.
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