Children & the Law Blog

Leslie Kaufman of the New York Times takes an in-depth look at the Juvenile Justice Initiative in New York.

The city said that in the year since the program began, fewer than 35 percent of the 275 youths who have been through it have been rearrested or violated probation. By treating them in the context of their families and environments rather than in isolation, officials found that recidivism was usually less than half that of residential correction programs. ….at roughly $17,000 per child, such in-home therapy programs cost a fraction of the annual expense of keeping a child in secure detention, which can be $140,000 to $200,000.

• NY Times: A Home Remedy for Juvenile Offenders