Our kids don’t belong in adult prisons
Kids in adult prison are 36 times more likely to die by suicide.
They’re at greater risk for sexual abuse, including rape
Teenagers are not little adults. They don’t think like adults, act like adults, process emotions like adults or understand the world like adults.
Less than 30% of Cuyahoga County residents are people of color, yet 91% of youth bound over to the adult system are Black or Brown.
Some kids make terrible decisions with horrendous consequences. We can and should hold them accountable, but throwing them into adult prisons isn’t the answer.
Because when it comes to kids, research shows getting “tough on crime” doesn’t make our community any safer. It only leads to more poverty, trauma, desperation, crime, broken homes and broken lives. We can do better.
That’s why GCC is working with our member institutions, prosecutors, judges and our community to make intervention programs like these the de facto standard when it comes to juvenile justice.
Together we can hold children accountable and protect them from a predatory adult criminal justice system. We can give kids and families hope for a brighter future. And we can do it while building a safer, stronger Greater Cleveland.
Help GCC end the abuse of discretionary youth bindover.
Articles Related to Discretionary Youth Bindover
Justice for our Children - GCC November 9th Press Conference
Last Thursday, GCC held a press conference at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church. Our leaders called on the Cuyahoga County Council to do better for our kids by making sure the $650,000 budget
November 13, 2023
GCC Calls Out Cuyahoga County on Abuse of Discretionary Youth Bindover
Cuyahoga County transfers more youth to the adult criminal justice system than any other Ohio urban county.
December 16, 2022