May 14, 2024
An increasing number of young people are ending up in North Carolina juvenile detention centers. The most recent data – from 2022 – shows 2,591 people were placed in a juvenile detention center, up from 2,423 the year before.
“What we have seen over the last two years is an increase in juvenile crime of about 20 percent, but violent crime was even more increased. We’ve seen an increase of about 24 percent for violent crime,” said William Lassiter, deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and head of the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The uptick in crime has meant juvenile jails are bursting at the seams. As the number of juvenile offenders climbs, the state is looking at alternatives to crowded detention centers to make sure young people already convicted of crimes can turn their lives around.
In the summer of 2023, there were, on average, more than 80 youths sleeping on juvenile day room floors. Currently, when juveniles in North Carolina are sentenced for a crime, they are sent to a youth development center. . . . A new center in Rockingham County with 60 new beds accommodates those serving time for the most serious crimes, but it is not run like a traditional jail or prison.
“The average kid who comes here is five years behind in education,” Lassiter said. “We have a full school that’s here. We have a full mental health staff.” Every inmate participates in education, and everyone has a job.
https://www.wral.com/story/education-skills-and-rehab-focus-easing-burden-on-nc-juvenile-justice-system/21431308/