Juvenile Justice raises 'minimum age' law to 10 - Yahoo News

Dec. 4—RALEIGH — In North Carolina, a 6-year-old can no longer be seen in juvenile court for grabbing a candy bar from a checkout aisle or for running away from home.

A new law that took effect Wednesday raises the lower age of juvenile jurisdiction from 6 to 10 for most youth and will provide alternatives to taking a vulnerable juvenile to court.

Thanks to recommendations from the Juvenile Jurisdiction Advisory Committee, the efforts of its members, the hard work of the Juvenile Justice section, bi-partisan support in the legislature, and Gov. Roy Cooper's leadership, North Carolina will no longer have the youngest minimum age of juvenile jurisdiction because of Senate Bill 207.

An 8- or 9-year-old child who either has a prior court judgement (adjudication) of delinquency or who commits a felony A through G offense will remain under juvenile jurisdiction. The age of juvenile jurisdiction for all undisciplined offenses (e.g., truancy, runaways and other status offenses) is now 10.

"These changes are research-based and cost-beneficial. But, most importantly, it's the right thing to do," said William Lassiter, deputy secretary for Juvenile Justice. "North Carolina has a rich history of juvenile justice reform that led to massive reductions in juvenile crime and set the stage for continued reforms like raising the upper age and lower age of juvenile jurisdiction."

For 6 to 15 year olds, the North Carolina juvenile delinquency rate decreased from 27.55 in 2010 to 12.05 per 1,000 youth in 2020, the lowest juvenile delinquency rate on record. Over the past decade (2010-2019), detention center admissions declined 63% and youth development center commitments decreased 59%.

Equipped with coloring books and crayons, juvenile court counselors previously sought to occupy the minds of younger children while in the courtroom to reinforce appropriate behavior during court hearings. Now, armed with vulnerable juvenile consultations, the power of service referrals, screenings, assessments, community resources, and programming, juvenile court counselors can offer services to the young child and the parent without exposing that young child to court processes they do not understand.

source: https://news.yahoo.com/juvenile-justice-raises-minimum-age-201200177.html

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