PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Care, Not Control, an area organization working to overhaul Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system, is pressing lawmakers in Harrisburg to approve the Care Package, a major reform initiative.
The Care Package is a series of 10 bills introduced last month in the state House, aimed at reforming Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system. The legislation stems from recommendations made in 2021 by Pennsylvania’s bipartisan Juvenile Justice Task Force, a group of lawmakers chosen by former Governor Tom Wolf.
The Care legislation is a series of 10 bills introduced last month in the state House. It proposes measures such as expanding and standardizing juvenile diversion programs, excluding vulnerable youth from placement in detention facilities, limiting probation terms, eliminating most fines and court fees, and strengthening oversight of juvenile justice facilities.
The package also seeks to restrict the use of solitary confinement for youth, a practice Care, Not Control director Autumn Talley called "appalling."
“We know that this is harmful to adults, and so it's unfathomable to be doing this to children,” she said. “On the federal side, it's banned. Facilities will say that there's different reasons and circumstances that lead them to have to put kids in solitary confinement.”
Proponents of the bills, which were introduced in the house last month, would reduce out-of-home placements by 39% and save taxpayers an estimated $80 million.
Talley said the current juvenile justice system often traps young people, oftentimes concentrating on a particular demographic in a way that's oppressive and abusive.
“It really suffocates these kids in the system. It gives them no chance, it doesn't help public safety,” she said. “So we need to set things straight, or at least, do better by children and by our communities, and this is a way that we can start to do that.”
Talley emphasized the importance of public advocacy and for those to call their legislators.
“When people make noise, officials have to listen. They have to answer for the problems that we're seeing,” she said. “We've had some representatives tell us they don't hear a lot from people about juvenile justice issues. So that's always part of our work.”