Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAMBRIDGE, MA – March 27, 2025 – To protect children’s futures, the Arkansas Legislature should support Bill 459 and raise the minimum age of child involvement in the juvenile justice system from 9 to 10 years old, Strategies for Youth Executive Director Lisa Thurau urged in a letter to state legislators.

Thurau’s letter states this increase in age would bring Arkansas law more closely in line with other states that have the minimum age of 12 or 13 for involvement in the system. 

The Strategies for Youth leader also stressed that maturity and social/emotional factors are at a crucial stage in development at this age, pointing to studies that show the harshness of punishment is directly correlated with later institutionalism and subsequently decreases the likelihood of successful rehabilitation.

“[The bill] will enable the Arkansas juvenile justice system to more fully deliver on its obligation to ‘…assure that all juveniles brought to the attention of the courts receive the guidance, care, and control, preferably in each juvenile’s own home when the juvenile’s health and safety are not at risk, that will best serve the emotional, mental, and physical welfare of the juvenile and the best interest of the state,’” Thurau added.

Strategies for Youth, a national training and policy organization dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for youth who interact with law enforcement, argued that supporting an amendment to raise the age to 10 will not put public safety at risk.

“Nationally, the majority of youth in the juvenile justice system are older – typically ages 15 to 17,” Thurau wrote. “Children younger than 12 represent a very small percentage of this population, with children under the age of 10 representing the smallest group.”

Read Strategies for Youth’s full letter.