State Juvenile Justice Work

Since the late 1990s, the rate at which juveniles are arrested for violent crimes has been cut in half, and so has the rate at which they are committed to state juvenile corrections facilities. Policy leaders are now acting to accelerate and lock in these positive trends toward less crime at lower cost.  Pew and its partners have worked with leaders in several of the states to advance juvenile justice policies that protect public safety, hold youth accountable, and contain taxpayer costs.

Where We Work

Georgia Hawaii Kansas
Kentucky South Dakota West Virginia
We want to see more of Georgia’s nonviolent young offenders who have made mistakes get their lives back together and re-enter society as productive citizens." Governor Nathan Deal

Additional Resources

Article

March 7, 2016

Public Attitudes Toward Juvenile Justice in Kansas

Kansas voters strongly support improving the state’s juvenile justice system by reducing the use of state-funded correctional facilities and investing in community supervision and programming...

Article

February 18, 2016

Juvenile Justice in Kansas: Workgroup Unveils Solutions

In December 2015, the Kansas Juvenile Justice Workgroup issued a comprehensive set of policy recommendations to improve the state’s juvenile justice system. The following month, the Kansas...

Issue Brief

January 29, 2016

South Dakota's 2015 Juvenile Justice Reform

Two years after adopting broad adult criminal justice reforms, South Dakota in 2015 passed comprehensive, bipartisan legislation to overhaul its juvenile justice system. The law, S.B. 73, prioritizes...
Collection: Juvenile Justice Research 
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Juvenile Justice Research
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Video

Three States Lead the Way for Juvenile Justice Reforms

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State leaders from Georgia, Hawaii, and Kentucky discuss the shifting landscape in juvenile justice and how they enacted data-driven and fiscally sound policies that protect public safety, improve outcomes for youths, and contain correctional costs.  

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