My name is Julie McConnell, and I am a Professor of Law, Legal Practice and Director of the Children’s Defense Clinic at the University of Richmond. I have worked in youth justice for more than 25 years.  I write today in my personal capacity.  I previously served as a prosecutor in the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, where I was a supervisor in the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. In that office, I specialized in the prosecution of violent youth crimes, domestic violence, elder abuse, child physical and sexual abuse, and domestic homicide cases. I have also served as an assistant public defender in the City of Richmond, where I handled hundreds of criminal cases from trespassing to murder, and spent several years in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Before law school, I worked as a lobbyist and was involved in the revision of the Virginia Juvenile Code in the mid-1990s.  Currently, I also serve as Chair of the Virginia Advisory Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Prevention, Chair of the Annual Robert E. Shepherd Jr. Youth Law and Education Conference, and Chair of the Virginia Bar Association’s Commission on the Needs of Children. I am also co-editor of the Virginia CLE Manual Juvenile Law and Practice in Virginia, published every three years.

Having worked on all sides of the aisle and having handled thousands of delinquency cases, I have carefully observed our efforts over the last three decades to find the right solutions to help young people avoid the juvenile legal system.  When Virginia revised the length-of-stay guidelines in 2015 to be more in line with evidence-based best practices, it was based on data that showed children have better outcomes when we try to limit as much as possible, how long they are removed from their homes for delinquent behavior.  Nothing has changed about that data. 

We still know that children are less likely to recidivate when we disrupt their family connections and support systems as little as possible. And they are also more likely to succeed in the community when they stay in school and are able to find employment. When kids are removed from home, many find it very difficult to return to school after their incarceration.  It is also difficult to obtain employment when a young person has a delinquency record.  Sealing or expunging delinquency records would be a much more meaningful way to reduce recidivism.

Several studies have been done that show definitively that the harms involved in long-term incarceration far outweigh any perceived benefit from harsher punishment. 

1. A 2013 Ohio study found that children are more likely to recidivate when they are held for longer periods, noting that 34% of youth who were incarcerated for one month or less were later reincarcerated, whereas that share climbed to 61% for youth for who were incarcerated for 60 months. Lovins, B. K. (2013). Putting wayward kids behind bars: The impact of length of stay in a custodial setting on recidivism. University of Cincinnati.

2. A 2020 study in Washington State, found that every additional day spent in detention increased the odds of felony recidivism by one percentage point. Walker, S. C., & Herting, J. R. (2020). The impact of pretrial juvenile detention on 12-month recidivism: A matched comparison study. Crime & Delinquency, 66(13-14), 1865-1887. 

3. Studies in Florida and New York City also confirm that longer lengths of stay lead to higher rates of recidivism. Winokur, K. P., Smith, A., Bontrager, S. R., & Blankenship, J. L. (2008), Juvenile recidivism and length of stay. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36(2), 126-137 and Lin, J. (2006). Exploring the Impact of Institutional Placement on the Recidivism of Delinquent Youth. New York University.

4. A 2014 National Academy of Sciences study concluded that “[c]onfinement of juveniles beyond the minimum amount needed to deliver intensive services effectively is not only wasteful economically but also potentially harmful, and it may impede prosocial development.” National Research Council (2014). Implementing Juvenile Justice Reform: The Federal Role. Committee on a Prioritized Plan to Implement a Developmental Approach in Juvenile Justice Reform, Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. The National Academies Press.

Finally, racial disparities are baked into Virginia’s juvenile legal system, particularly when it comes to who gets held in correctional facilities both pre- and post-trial and who doesn’t.  Youth of color are significantly more likely to be incarcerated than non-Hispanic white youth with similar characteristics and offending histories. When JLARC studied Virginia’s legal system, they found that over the last decade, Black youth were 2.5 times more likely than white youth to be referred to the juvenile justice system. Given that disturbing fact, we must pay particularly careful attention to the negative ways in which longer length of stay guidelines will impact Black youth.  JLARC, 2021 Report to the Governor and the General Assembly on Virginia’s Juvenile Justice System, p. 36.

Until Virginia fully invests in evidence-based trauma-informed responses to the root causes of delinquency, we will continue to see a recidivism rate that is higher than anyone would like to see.  What we need is better-trained, better-resourced individuals who are committed to helping young people find a more productive pro-social path, not more punishment. We need robust programming available the moment kids start to have trouble in school, in their homes, and in the community.  We need access to comprehensive mental health treatment for kids who are suffering from unspeakable trauma.  Until we fully commit to helping these kids process the experiences they are surviving in their communities, we will continue to see far too many kids stuck in the revolving door of the juvenile legal system. These children need the kind of positive structure, opportunities, and stimulation we try to provide our own children.  What will help kids desist from delinquent behavior is giving them opportunities to mature and develop in ways that will help them reject criminogenic thinking.  I implore you to invest in meeting kids' needs rather than simply locking them away in juvenile prisons. We can both hold young people accountable and also intelligently respond to their needs.  The key is not longer sentences; it is using the time young people are in the juvenile legal system to holistically address the complex reasons they are there and to support them in successfully transitioning out of the system. When we do that, we will make the community safer and help these kids successfully move away from delinquent behavior.

Thank you.