Change in New York's Juvenile Corrections System

• NCJ Number: 102568
• Journal: Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1986) Pages: 169-197
• Author(s): E F McGarrell
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 29 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This is a revised version of a paper presented as a Working Paper to the Nelson A Rockefeller Institute of Government (Fall 1985).

Annotation

This paper traces changes in the New York State juvenile corrections system from the late 1960's to 1984 and identifies factors that influenced juvenile corrections policy in those years.

Abstract

Findings are based on 51 interviews with 58 respondents, including key actors from the Governor's office, legislators and their staffs, administrators of relevant State agencies, juvenile justice practitioners, and representatives of citizen advocacy groups. Archival materials were also reviewed. Following a period of reductions in institutional populations and increases in community-based programs, the State experienced significant growth in the number of secure facilities, the number of youths housed in secure settings, and the total residential population. The deinstitutionalization of juveniles in training schools resulted from prevailing deinstitutionalization ideology, gubernatorial and legislative support for alternatives to training schools, the increased costs of training schools, a State fiscal crisis that reduced training school appropriations, and increased funding for alternatives to institutionalization. The growth in the number of secure juvenile facilities and their populations resulted from increased public concern about serious juvenile crime and the legislative response to it. This study illustrates that correctional policy is affected by the larger sociopolitical context influencing the correctional organization. 11 notes and 19-item bibliography.