Redirect Funds from Youth Incarceration to Community Based Alternatives

The federal Department of Justice just released the findings of a damning 2-year investigation into OCFS facilities that found youth were abused so severely it constituted a violation of civil rights. “In one case described in the report, a youth was forcibly restrained and handcuffed after refusing to stop laughing when ordered to; the youth sustained a cut lip and injuries to the wrists and elbows. One boy, after glaring at a staff member, was forced into a sitting position and his arms were secured behind his back with such force that his collarbone was broken” (NY Times) It is URGENT that we get these horrible facilities closed! http://bit.ly/YTi7l Please act now by signing the petition and urging others to do the same!

To:  Juvenile Justice Officials and Legislators

We support the redirection of funds currently spent on incarcerating juveniles to community-based alternatives-to-incarceration for youth. We believe that the $200,000 spent annually to keep just one young person in a youth prison is a waste of public dollars. We believe that the 75\% recidivism rate that comes from locking children up is proof these facilities are not good for public safety. We believe the fact that 86\% of the children in facilities are Black and Latino youth - mostly from low-income urban areas - represents racial and economic injustice. We believe that keeping empty and underutilized facilities open to maintain jobs in rural counties that don't send their own youth to the justice system is economic exploitation. At the same time, we know that community-based alternatives, where kids stay close to home and receive social services and supervision from responsible adults, achieve recidivism rates as low as 8 to 36\% at cost of $5,000 to $15,000 per youth annually. Knowing there are proven ways to turn children's lives around, improve public safety, and reduce government spending, we support the closure of New York State's costly, harmful, and ineffective youth prisons and support the reinvestment of the monies saved back into the communities where the young people live.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Redirect Funds from Youth Incarceration to Community Based Alternatives Petition to Juvenile Justice Officials and Legislators was created by and written by Ruben Austria (ruben.austria@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.