Proposed legislation in Kansas cracks open state guidelines to allow courts to sentence any kid deemed an offender to juvenile prison, reversing a decade-old effort to treat youth incarceration as a last resort.
The Kansas juvenile justice system is like a festering wound, said an activist saddened by lawmakers’ lack of action to help at-risk children and youths.
Kansas lawmakers are trying to retool juvenile justice laws to bring back more penalties for children who commit crimes. Supporters of the bill said it brings back accountability. Opponents see it as unforgiving and regressive.
Stabbings, 16-year-olds with guns and violent attacks: Officials working with young offenders in Kansas say they need lawmakers to step up and fix flaws within the state’s juvenile justice system.
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Several Wichita clergy members and organizations have sent a letter to local officials following the death of a 17-year-old while in custody.
Incarcerating young Kansans is more costly and inhumane than providing community services, education and mentoring to keep them out of the juvenile justice system, according to a new report by a nonprofit pushing the state to shutter its last juvenile prison.
An organization working to reform the Kansas juvenile justice system called for an end to incarceration of youth after a 17-year-old boy died at the Sedgwick County intake facility.
Juvenile justice reformers pleaded for reversal of a decision by Kansas lawmakers to divert $21 million earmarked for community intervention programs and recommended allocation of more funding to innovative grassroots organizations involved in projects to diminish incarceration of children.
