I am in support of changes more adequately tailored to the dual goals of rehabilitation of the juvenile and safety of the community - the stated purposes of this separate juvenile justice system.  I have been in prosecution for 15 years.  The first 10 years of my career were focused on cases in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court including juvenile offenders. How about data on the link between juveniles most likely to commit serious criminal offenses and thus more likely to recidivate when many of them are returned to the same terrible home environment that led them to this life of crime?  We take the most dangerous and violent juvenile offenders out of the community for the shortest period of time possible before releasing most of them back to the same "people, places, and things" that laid the foundation for a life of crime. Then you want this juvenile to fight against the lifestyle in which he or she was raised to be an upstanding citizen? How are we to achieve meaningful rehabilitation to counter years of abuse, trauma, gang membership, etc. during the current paltry length of stays?  What about safety of the community?  Sec. 16.1-227 states the purposes of the JDR court are "that in all proceedings the welfare of the child and the family, the safety of the community and the protection of the rights of victims are paramount concerns of the Commonwealth..."  Just this May I had 2 juveniles, 14 and 15 years of age, that I tried in the JDR court as they did not qualify for a transfer to Circuit Court based on changes in the law. If they did qualify I could have obtained a serious offender commitment which would have more adequately addressed their needs and the safety of the community.  They were co-defendants charged with 2 counts of malicious wounding, 2 counts of armed robbery, 2 counts of A&B by mob, grand larceny, 2 counts of use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, 2 counts of brandishing, and possession of a handgun by a minor. If they were adults they would have faced a max of over 100 years in the penitentiary.  They were sentenced to a commitment to DJJ estimated LOS 6-9 months.  The victims were horrified that in as little as 6 months these juveniles could be released back into their community. Feb 2019 a different juvenile offender, was convicted of a street robbery and committed for 7-10 months.  By December 2020 he was out, violated parole, picked up new criminal offenses that involved firearms and while wanted killed a man.  He was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a violent felon. He was 15 years old. I can give more examples where the LOS is NOT the causation of recidivism.  Again these changes allow for tailoring to the specific cases of each juvenile. Remember these are the juveniles who are committing the worst offenses or are already repeat offenders in order to be committed to DJJ. Given that juveniles are committing more serious offenses in my city and many with firearms, I welcome the change.  The current short LOS incentivize the transfer of juveniles to Circuit court for more appropriate sentencing options.  "The numbers of juveniles in the state’s correctional centers, and held in local or regional detention centers, is expected to rise. After a sharp drop in juvenile cases in fiscal year 2021, cases increased by nearly 32% in fiscal 2022." This came from a Nov. 2022 RTD article. While this number includes detention centers notice adult jails are included.  So should we send our violent juveniles and repeat offenders to adult court and jail and/or penitentiary or have an adequate juvenile alternative for treatment and safety of the community?