Epidemic of Childhood Trauma Among Children Tried As Adults

[James Dold]

Good afternoon everyone, 

Last week, HRFK released our latest report entitled, Disposable Children: The Prevalence of Child Abuse and Trauma Among Children Prosecuted As Adults in Maryland. 

It is the first report in the country to examine the rates of ACEs/trauma among children tried as adults at the state-level. Here are some great media articles from this past week discussing the report and our findings: 

https://www.wypr.org/wypr-news/2024-11-21/report-children-come-to-maryland-justice-system-with-long-lists-of-trauma-abuse

https://marylandmatters.org/2024/11/20/report-calls-for-reforms-in-marylands-handling-of-youth-tried-and-imprisoned-as-adults/

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/11/22/maryland-juveniles-jail-charged-adults/ 

We have found similarly high rates of trauma among children tried as adults in other states as well, which we'll be releasing in 2025, prior to a National Report detailing our findings from across the country.  

So far we are finding that children tried as adults are most often victims of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well as parental neglect, prior to their system-involvement. They come from communities that are overrun with violence where there is little safety for them. They were victims long before they were offenders.

In addition to several policy recommendations, which include changing transfer statutes and requiring trauma history be considered at both transfer and sentencing hearings, we recommend universal ACEs/Trauma screening for all youth referred to DJS/DJJ and treatment plans that correspond to those screenings. Additionally, we encourage the adoption of a high fidelity wraparound services model that includes family support for system-involved youth in coordination with the Department of Human Services. 

We believe that our research in this area will help us to present a binary choice for state policymakers: 

Lock up child victims of abuse, exploitation, and neglect for behavioral issues stemming from the abuse we failed to protect them from in the first place; or

Give these children love, compassion, and the treatment they need to heal from their trauma while holding them accountable in a trauma-informed and age appropriate way. 

As this project continues to advance we hope to partner with all of you in helping to change and shift the narrative around system-involved youth. 

Wishing everyone a very happy and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. 

James

--

James L. Dold, J.D.

CEO & Founder 

Human Rights for Kids

1250 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20036

Email: jd...@humanrightsforkids.org

Phone: ‪(202) 573-7758

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