A new report issued by the Children’s Law Center of Kentucky shows that children who are incarcerated in adult prisons fare poorly, and the affects of such incarceration can last a lifetime -- if the young person survives. Falling Through the Cracks: A New Look at Ohio's Youth in the Adult Criminal Justice System illustrates the hazards of mixing children with adults in a correctional setting.
While the findings were based on juveniles in Ohio adult prisons, the results can be applied to juveniles housed in adult facilities across the U.S. According to Falling Through the Cracks :
Young people prosecuted in adult courts are 34% more likely to commit another offense than youth prosecuted in juvenile court
Youths housed in adult prisons or jails have a higher risk of suicide, and are more likely to be sexually or physically assaulted than their counterparts in juvenile facilities
A child who is convicted of an adult felony can have his criminal history made public, a collateral consequence that can bar him from employment, housing or educational opportunities in the future
The report also criticizes Ohio’s “bind over” policy in which a young person arrested for a crime is bound over to an adult court or correctional facility. The Report states:
Young African-Americans make up 17% of Ohio’s population, but 76% of the bind over population
Youths who are bound over spend an average six months in an adult facility where age appropriate educational programs and services are not offered
The majority of young people sentenced by an adult court (67%) receive a sentence of under five years, which leads to the conclusion that some of the offenses committed were not severe, and therefore an alternative to an adult facility might have been considered
The Kentucky Children’s Law Center offered recommendations on how to reduce the rate of children being prosecuted in adult court, including eliminating bind overs, raising the age of Ohio’s Serious Youth Offender Law (SYO) to 14, and allowing young people to receive a judicial review of their cases. It was also suggested that young people held in an adult facility have access to age appropriate educational, mental health and substance abuse programs.
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