TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A study shows that fewer juveniles have been arrested and held in the Kansas juvenile justice system while the state has been investing in alternatives to incarceration.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Pew Charitable Trusts found that the number of juvenile arrests in Kansas fell by 29% between 2015 and 2017. Researchers say the states population of youth placed in detention facilities or group homes declined by 63% from 2015 to 2018.
The changes align with when Kansas began funneling budget savings into community-based therapy and intervention programs designed to keep families together. Lawmakers passed a bill in 2016 to redirect at-risk youth into alternative programs.
Pew research manager Dana Shoenberg says Kansas is an example of how states can reform their juvenile justice system while containing costs.
