PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and his staff have announced the launch of a new unit focused on improving outcomes for non-violent criminals in the justice system who are between the ages of 18 to 25, with an emphasis on rehabilitation over punishment.
The new Emerging Adult Unit will work with victim service providers, along with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, to give them educational and social service support.
They will be mentored, given job training, literacy assistance and more.
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It’s the first of its kind to be fully implemented, and is considered by proponents to be a national model.
Krasner said this stems from research that shows young adults don't completely mature until age of 25, and they respond to rehabilitation, not just punishment.
He added that helping them to better integrate into society will have long-lasting effects, and ultimately a safer community.
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Sangeeta Prasad, a Stoneleigh Fellow at the District Attorney's Office, said those who are emerging right now are especially impacted and can fall to pressures as they try to get their lives started.
She said they need mentorship.
“In this time because of what the world is going through, they are particularly in need of the contacts and the supports and the connections that traditionally the criminal justice system does not provide," Prasad added.
Prasad explained that a punishment-only model for young adults does harm, and they need to use an evidence-based model.
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“One that promotes tools that will help young adults react differently when they’re faced with stress and trauma," she said.
"That is the work of this Emerging Adult Unit, to connect them to those resources so they can develop those tools.”
First Assistant District Attorney Robert Listenbee also said that it's important to pay special attention to the proven adolescent brain science, which the Supreme Court used to eliminate such sentences as the juvenile death penalty and juvenile life without parole.
“Young people are not simply examples of their worst day and their worst decisions. They need second chances often," said Listenbee.
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"The Emerging Adult Initiative, through a lot of the resources that are developed, will give a lot of people in the city of Philadelphia a second chance.”
“Ultimately, our goal within this program is to be able to provide that reading intervention, provide that job training, and resources such as cash stipends, transportation assistance, food resources as well as student support in order to move our participants forward," said Marcus Hall, the Director of Workforce Development for Beyond Literacy, a participating organization.
Krasner said non-violent criminals between 18 and 25 years old are more responsive to rehabilitation, and that each case will be considered individually.
Initially, the program will review about 500 cases per month, and it could lead to withdrawn or reduced charges.
