Raise the Age MI:
Statement of Principles
The following is a Statement of Principles to Raise the Age of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction to 18.
WHEREAS:
1. Children are our most vital and valuable resource and investing in each of them is investing in our collective future; and
2. Research should inform policy and practices; and
3. Youth are developmentally different from adults and these differences are documented by research on the adolescent brain and acknowledged by many state and federal laws that treat youth disparately based on their age and stage of development; and
4. Mistakes often associated with normative adolescent behavior should not determine a youth’s outcome in life; and
5. The Michigan adult criminal justice system is not structured to handle the developmental, educational or social needs of children; and
6. Most youth in the Michigan adult criminal justice system are there for non-violent offenses; and
7. Research demonstrates that convicting and sentencing youth in the adult criminal justice system increases rather than decreases the likelihood they will re-offend, as compared with youth served in the juvenile system; and
8. Youth in adult prisons face extreme risk of violence, sexual assault, and self-harm; and
9. The juvenile justice system provides the developmentally-appropriate programs, services, monitoring, and sanctions that can help parents nurture and guide young people as they grow into productive adult citizens; then
We believe Michigan’s policy-makers, communities, advocates and government systems should work to:
I. Raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 18, which would impact 95% of the children being convicted and sentenced as adults, and align Michigan with 41 other states, federal standards, and U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
II. Remove all youth under age 18 from adult jails and prisons and provide access to developmentally appropriate, rehabilitative services available in Michigan’s youth-serving community-based programs, and juvenile facilities (when out of home placement is necessary).
III. Continue to build a juvenile justice system that offers age-appropriate treatment and services, therapy, education, job skills training, and further enhance the system to support and promote evidence-based programs.
IV. Fully fund effective community-based programs that support court-involved youth and their families.
List of Organizational Endorsers
-
Access of West Michigan
-
ACLU of Michigan
-
Alkebu-Lan Village
-
American Friends Service Committee
-
American Friends Service Committee Michigan Criminal Justice Program
-
Association for Children's Mental Health
-
BooksForGirls!
-
Campaign for Youth Justice
-
Child Abuse Prevent Council of Shiawassee County
-
Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending
-
Citizens for Prisoner Reform
-
Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance
-
Damascus Holy Life Baptist Church
-
Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation
-
Families on the Move Inc.
-
Famliy Participation Program
-
Fish Films, LLC
-
Gamaliel of Michigan
-
Grand Rapids Urban League
-
Growth Works Inc.
-
Heartside Ministry
-
Helping All People Excel
-
Highfields, Inc.
-
Holy Cross Children's Services
-
Home of New Vision
-
Humanity for Prisoners
-
ICHANGE
-
Innovation for Good
-
Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice
-
Ionia Juvenile Court
-
Justice for Families
-
Justice Policy Institute
-
Juvenile Assessment Center
-
Juvenile Justice Coalition
-
Juvenile Law Center
-
Literacy Center of West Michigan
-
LUCK Inc.
-
Luster Brothers Home Improvements
-
M.A.D.E. Institute
-
Medal of Honor Consulting
-
Mentor2Youth Inc.
-
MI United
-
MI-CURE
-
Michigan Children's Law Center
-
Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency
-
Michigan County Social Services Association
-
Michigan Faith in Action
-
Michigan Juvenile Detention Association
-
Michigan League for Public Policy
-
Michigan's Children
-
NASW of Michigan
-
Nation Outside
-
National Association Of Social Workers- Michigan
-
National Juvenile Justice Network
-
National Partnership for Juvenile Services
-
One Love Global
-
Ozone House
-
Partners for a Racism Free Community (PRFC)
-
Postsecondary Alliance for Student Success
-
PrisonWriters.com
-
Prof. Probation & Parole Consulting, Inc
-
Restorative Justice Coalition of Western Michigan
-
Ruth Ellis Center
-
Saginaw County DHS
-
Second Chances 4 Youth
-
Sisters Home Visit of Mary
-
Social Action Unitarian Univ. Church of Greater Lansing
-
Social Justice League
-
Southeast MI Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
-
Spectrum Juvenile Justice Services
-
Staircase Youth Services Inc.
-
Student Advocacy Center of Michigan
-
T-Ella Creations
-
Teen HYPE
-
The Center for Children's Law and Policy
-
The Guidance Center
-
The Micah Center
-
The Sentencing Project
-
Thomas Law & Consulting Group, PLC
-
True North Community Services
-
U.P. Kids
-
United For Better Health Network
-
Veda A. Sharp and Associates, LLC.
-
Vip Mentoring
-
Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights
-
Washtenaw Intermediate School District Board of Education
-
Wedgwood Christian Services
-
Wolverine Human Services
-
Woodside Church, Flint MI