Youth Justice Policies to End Girls’ Incarceration

This report from Vera Institute for Justice provides examples of reforms from various states that are working to reduce the incarceration of girls in detention and long-term placement.

“Over the last decade, as a direct result of focused efforts by youth advocates and a growing body of research on developmentally appropriate practices, many states have succeeded in passing youth justice reform bills to reduce youth incarceration. These reforms range from policies that explicitly ban, prohibit, or limit the use of incarceration, such as misdemeanor bans, to policies that shrink the number of youth in the system at any given time, such as probation supervision limits.

Although many of these reforms positively impact youth across the board, the impact on girls and gender expansive youth—and girls of color specifically—has not been extensively documented. Since 2017, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) has been working directly with jurisdictions to end the incarceration of girls. As a result of these efforts, California, Hawaii, Maine, New York City, and North Dakota have successfully reduced the incarceration of girls and gender expansive youth. Although jurisdictions have varying needs, there are common legislative reforms that have demonstrated success in decreasing the number of girls in detention and placement facilities.

Based on a survey of reform bills nationwide, this issue brief highlights key legislative policies that can mobilize and guide advocates to end girls’ incarceration in their jurisdiction. Although complementary strategies exist, this brief focuses on a set of key legislative policy ideas that directly impact the goal of reducing and eventually ending girls’ incarceration.”