Advocates are worried about how New York is discussing youth crime.
State data indicate some counties are experiencing a decline in juvenile crime but others are seeing gradual increases. The New York City Mayor’s Management Report found youth arrests for major felonies have grown since 2020. Some public officials blame the increase in felony arrests on the 2017 “Raise the Age” law, which made it so 16- and 17-year-olds could no longer be prosecuted as adults.
Julia Davis, youth justice and child welfare director for the Children’s Defense Fund of New York, defended the law, saying it also provides funds to keep kids out of trouble…