Page 24 - NC Triangle Vol 7 No 3

BILLY LASSITER ADDRESSED A RAISE THE AGE STAKEHOLDER MEETING IN KING (STOKES COUNTY) IN NOVEMBER 2017.
William “Billy” Lassiter, NC deputy secretary for Juvenile Justice, has a message for state lawmakers who are now working on the 2019-20 budget. “Now that you have passed Raise the Age, you did the right thing. But it’s only
the right thing to do if you fund it correctly.”
On December 1, under the Raise the Age law, the classi cation of a
juvenile in the criminal justice system raises from 16 years old to 18 years-old except for those accused of certain violent crimes. “So that most 16 and 17-year-olds facing criminal charges may have their cases disposed of through the juvenile justice system rather than the adult criminal justice system,” wrote the NC Sentencing and Policy Advi- sory Committee.
e law will bring a lot of change to the juvenile justice system in the next several years. “We are changing the fundamentals of the sys- tem,” said Lassiter. “We want to make sure that the younger kids aren’t harmed in the system, meaning that they don’t get any less resources because of the impact of Raise the Age. And we want to make sure that the older kids that will be coming into the system get the adequate resources they need.”
PROPOSED BUDGET INCREASES
e agency currently has been allocated 65 new Juvenile court coun- selors. According to recommendations from the Juvenile Jurisdiction Advisory Committee (JJAC), tasked with developing an implementa- tion plan for Raise the Age, that number needs to triple over the next two years. Lassiter said that means roughly 20 new counselors need to be hired every month.
Governor Roy Cooper’s new budget proposes an increase of $26 million for 2019-20 and $36 million for 2020-21 to, “increase sta , court services, facilities, and transportation, and establish focused programming for the 16- and 17-year-olds who will enter the juvenile justice system.”
e JJAC report also recommends additional funding for DA’s of- ces, clerks of court and judges. Cooper’s budget earmarks increases of $1.2 million for 2019-20 and $1.6 million for 2020-21.
Funded through the state’s juvenile justice system, Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils (JCPC) programs operate in every county.
“It provides programs like restitution, restorative justice, counsel- ing programs, substance abuse programs, and residential programs. e programs are run by non-pro t organizations or the counties themselves,” said Lassiter. “ e area we need the most help with is the community-based alternatives funded
Juvenile Justice
Raise the Age Law Is Raising Budget
Challenges
BY BOB FRIEDMAN
through JCPC programs.”
JCPC programs handle a caseload of
roughly 20,000 kids a year. at’s project- ed to grow by 60% to 32,000 when Raise the Age is fully implemented. About half of those kids have not entered the criminal justice system but are at-risk, such as hav- ing gotten into trouble at school.
In smaller counties with limited re- sources, the state contracts with non-prof- its, such as Methodist Home for Children, for juveniles with criminal behavior who need more intensive care. e cost can be $25,000 to $30,000 a year per child.
ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · NORTH CAROLINA TRIANGLE VOL. 7 NO. 3 24