World

Shaping the Future for Our Youths, Through Our Youths


“It is vital that we increase programming opportunities for youth and make them meaningful options in Youth Parts, a special court created after the Raise the Age law was passed.”

Adi Talwar

New York County’s Family Court at 60 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.

Raise the Age (RTA), a state law, was designed to reduce the number of situations in which youth can be prosecuted—and treated—as adults in criminal courts by ensuring that low-level offenses and even some felonies are handled in Family Court, where rehabilitation, not incarceration, is the primary focus.

RTA was designed to protect youths in New York from long and unjust criminal sentences, and it has been doing that; however, it has not done enough for our youth.

As advocates and public defenders, we have seen some positive effects of the RTA law on the youth we represent, but the law has not changed the frequently negative narratives we encounter. Instead, the criminal legal system continues to dehumanize and criminalize Black and brown youth, portraying them in unjust, damaging, and racially discriminatory ways that unfairly represent them and remove hope and rehabilitation from the discussion.





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