The Youth Correctional Leaders for Justice is a coalition of current and former leaders of youth justice agencies. We believe that separating youth from their families and communities, and emphasizing punishment and retribution, harms young people and their communities. We aim to facilitate community-centered justice, in which archaic, distant youth prisons are closed and communities have the resources to address the needs of youth, while helping to ensure accountability, personal responsibility, and validate victims of crime. We imagine a world where all youth have access to the support and guidance they need to become thriving, productive adults, within their own homes and communities.

Increasing the length of stay (LOS) is out of line with best practices. We agree that youth need to receive educational services and other opportunities for social, emotional, and workforce development, but youth should be served in the least restrictive environment possible. Based on our experience and the research documenting the harms of youth incarceration, we know that youth experience better outcomes when they receive services at home, in their community. Increasing the LOS does not produce better outcomes or improve public safety , in fact, the data in the DJJ’s 2021 Data Resource Guide suggests that recidivism rates are lower since the 2015 changes that shortened the LOS for youth (p. 87). Increasing the LOS jeopardizes the progress DJJ has made in recent years in reducing the youth population (p. 74) recidivism (p. 79) according to the Data Resource Guide.

The proposed guidelines have the potential to dramatically increase the length of stay (LOS) for youth and cause an increase in the population of youth committed to DJJ, based on the forecasted population projections in the DJJ’s Data Resource Guide (p. 75). As Youth Correctional Leaders, we are acutely aware of the impact that length of stay has on the conditions in youth justice facilities. Increased lengths of stay inherently leads to higher populations within facilities which creates harmful conditions for young people, decreases opportunities for youth to receive the benefits of programming, and creates budgetary and staffing concerns. Given the staffing concerns facing juvenile facilities across the country, we strongly advise against taking measures that would further increase the number of young people detained and exacerbate staffing resources.

The current LOS Guidelines that were adopted in 2015 have proven to be effective at reducing the overall population, creating safer facilities for committed youth and staff in those facilities, and improving the overall recidivism rate of youth who are released from DJJ. Research from Virginia and the field at large suggests that increasing the LOS for youth will increase recidivism, and neither the youth or public benefit from commitments (Mulvey & Schubert, 2012).

As current and former correctional leaders, we strongly advise against adopting the proposed LOS Guidelines.