Education, skills and rehab focus easing burden on NC juvenile justice system

An increasing number of young people are ending up in North Carolina juvenile detention centers. The most recent data – from 2022 – shows 2,591 people were placed in a juvenile detention center, up from 2,423 the year before.

"What we have seen over the last two years is an increase in juvenile crime of about 20 percent, but violent crime was even more increased. We've seen an increase of about 24 percent for violent crime," said William Lassiter, deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and head of the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

The uptick in crime has meant juvenile jails are bursting at the seams. As the number of juvenile offenders climbs, the state is looking at alternatives to crowded detention centers to make sure young people already convicted of crimes can turn their lives around.

In the summer of 2023, there were, on average, more than 80 youths sleeping on juvenile day room floors.

Currently, when juveniles in North Carolina are sentenced for a crime, they are sent to a youth development center.

"We are focused on rehabilitation. Having a kid – 14, 15, 16 – and saying we aren't going to serve them, it's expensive and a waste of a life," Lassiter said.

A new center in Rockingham County with 60 new beds accommodates those serving time for the most serious crimes, but it is not run like a traditional jail or prison.

"The average kid who comes here is five years behind in education," Lassiter said. "We have a full school that's here. We have a full mental health staff."

Every inmate participates in education, and everyone has a job.

"It gives youth a chance to figure out who they are and who they want to be," Lassiter said.

As those teen offenders get closer to their scheduled release date, they move to transitional programs like The Farm, a lower security facility in Goldsboro.

There, teenage boys between the ages of 16 and 18 finish their sentences while working and learning the skills they need to live independent and productive lives.

"I did have some past mistakes – hanging with the wrong friends, stuff that got me in bad places," on resident of the Farm told WRAL News. "I had to deal with consequences. After I leave here, I'm going to college or getting a good job."

Each teen stays 6 months to a year at the Farm before they're released.

"I learned how to cook. I didn't know how to do that before," one teen said. "It's helping me with education, because I wasn't focusing on school," said another. "I am trying to become a better man, a better big brother and a better son for my mom," said another.

The new model is working. Over the past couple of years, Lassiter says, North Carolina teens have seen recidivism rates as low as 11 percent.

It's also cost effective. In the fiscal year 2022-23, the average cost per youth for one year of transitional living services is $33,676, compared to $136,692 for a year of commitment in a youth development center.

When the teens are ultimately released, they still have support. The Division of Juvenile Justice offers wraparound services for more than a year to help individuals adjust back into society.