Mapping A Way Out Of The Adult Justice System

By Anne-Lise Vray, Communications Associate

In 2017, the Campaign for Youth Justice has chosen to draw a map throughout the year showing the way(s) out of the adult justice system. Each month, CFYJ will identify a new stop on the road that highlights a problem in prosecuting youth as adults and a way to remap an effective alternative.

200,000 youth per year, approximately 4,200 per night are sleeping in adult jails and prisons. In a system that prioritizes punishment over rehabilitation, youth in adult facilities face higher risk of physical and sexual assault, while getting little to no access to age appropriate services like school, mental health, in-person family visits.

Throughout this year, we will explore all the different ways in which the adult system is not appropriate for youth and show that there are better, more effective ways to rehabilitate our youth while insuring public safety, and more humane ways to treat our youth while ensuring accountability.

Let’s map a way out of the adult justice system and together take a step closer towards ending the practice of trying, sentencing and incarcerating youth as adults.


Help us make our map out of the adult system resonate to a wider audience by sharing on social media, whether it is our content or your personal experience with the adult criminal justice system, by using the hashtags #WayOut #YouthJustice