Change in New York's Juvenile Corrections System

• Author: Edmund F. McGarrell
• Published date: 01 May 1986
• Date: 01 May 1986
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/088740348600100204

Change

in

New

York’s

Juvenile

Corrections

System*

Edmund

F.

McGarrell

State

University

of

New

York

at

Albany

*This

is

a

revised

version

of

a

paper

presented

as

a

Working

Paper

to

the

Nelson

A.

Rockefeller

Institute

of

Government

(Fall

1985).

Abstract

From

the

late

1960s

to

1984,

the

New

York

State

juvenile

corrections

system

has

undergone

significant

change.

Following

a

period

of

reductions

in

institutional

populations

and

increases

in

community-based

programs,

the

state

experienced

significant

growth

in

the

number

of

secure

facilities,

the

number

of

youths

housed

in

secure

settings,

and

the

total

residential

popula-

tion.

The

purpose

of

this

paper

is

to

describe

and

document

the

changing

nature

of

the

juvenile

system

and

to

focus

on

the

dynamic

forces

behind

the

change

process.

This

paper,

based

on

the

observations

of policymakers

active

in

the

juvenile

corrections

area,

points

to

the

importance

of

several

key

policy

decisions

which

have

fundamentally

altered

the

shape

of

the

residential

services

component

of

the

juvenile

corrections

system.

Also

emphasized

is

the

importance

of

a

wide

range

of

less

obvious

factors

that

policymakers

have

found

influential

both

through

their

impact

on

policy

decisions

and

through

their

direct

effect

on

the

system.

Consideration

of

these

findings

points

to

the

need

for

a

broad

conceptualization

of

a

human

services

system

such

as

a

juvenile

corrections

system.

Only

with

such

a

conceptualization

can

one

begin

to

understand

and

influence

the

process

of

change

in

an

area

such

as

juvenile

corrections.

The

1960s

and

1970s

were

a

time

of

change

for juvenile

justice

systems

in

the

United

States.

Perhaps

more

than

at

any

time

since

the

creation

of the juvenile

court

at

the

turn

of

the

20th

century,

the

traditional

parens patriae

model

of

juvenile

justice

was

called

into

question.

Demands

for

reform

ranged

from

calls

to

deinstitutionalize

to

calls

to

&dquo;crackdown&dquo;

on

serious

juvenile

crime

(Empey,

1979,

1980;

Ohlin,

1983).

Juvenile

justice

in

New

York

was

not

immune

to

these

forces

of

change.

Indeed,

in

many

respects

New

York

both

reflects

and

was

at

the

forefront

of

these

national

trends.

CJPR,

VOL.

1

NO. 2,

5/86,

169

170

The

following

paper

focuses

on

this

process

of

change

in

relation

to

one

key

component

of

New

York’s

juvenile

justice

system:

the

juvenile

corrections

system.

The

purpose

of

the

paper

is

twofold:

first,

to

describe

and

document

the

changing

nature

of

New

York’s

juvenile

corrections

system

from

the

late

1960s

to

1984;

second,

to

focus

on

the

key

policy

decisions

and

related

factors

that

seem

to

account

for

the

changing

characteristics

of

the

system.

Although

data

collection

was

explicitly

guided

by

theory

(Miller,

Ohlin,

and

Coates,

1977),

the

present

discussion

is

essentially

descriptive.

The

hope

is

to

provide

an

historical

document

chronicling

the

development

and

changing

nature

of

this

system,

as

well

as

a

view

of

the

dynamic

forces

behind

this

change

process.

Historical

Development’

The

origins

of

New

York’s

juvenile

justice

system

can

be

traced

at

least

to

the

1820s

when

legislation

was

passed

allowing

the

placement

of

juveniles

under

16

years

of

age

convicted

of

crimes

or

charged

as

vagrants

with

the

Society

for

the

Reformation

of

Juvenile

Delinquents

in

the

City

of

New

York

(N.Y.

Laws

1824,

c.

126).

This

legislation

was

followed

by

the

opening

of

the

New

York

House

of

Refuge

in

1825,

the

first

such

facility

in

the

nation.

Throughout

the

remainder

of

the 19th

century

the

movement

toward

a

separate

justice

system

designed

for

juveniles

spread

to

the

rest

of

the

state

as

legislation

applied

the

16-year-old

juvenile/adult

age

distinction

statewide

and

several

more

juvenile

facilities

were

opened

(N.Y.

Laws:

1840,

c.

100).

At

the

turn

of

the

century,

New

York

quickly

followed

the

lead

of

the

Chicago

Juvenile

Court

with

the

establishment

of

the

Manhattan

Children’s

Court

in

1902.

The

juvenile

court

model

rapidly

spread

to

the

rest

of

the

state,

and

in

1922

children’s

courts

were

established

statewide

through

the

New

York

Children’s

Court

Act

(N.Y.

Laws

1922,

c.

547).

Development

of

juvenile

insti-

tutions

continued

with

the

opening

of

the

New

York

State

Training

School

for

Girls

at

Hudson

in

1904

and

the

Training

School

at

Warwick

in

1932.

The

years

following

World

War

II

were

significant

in

terms

of the

develop-

ment

of

the

juvenile

corrections

system.

A

number

of

training

schools

and

centers

were

developed

during

the

1950s

and

1960s.

The

capacity

of

these

public

facilities,

operated

under

the

auspices

of

the

Department

of

Social

Ser-

vices,

greatly

increased

during

these

years.

These

years

also

saw

the

initial

involvement

of

the

state

in

local

delinquency

prevention

as

the

State

Youth

Commission

was

created

in

1945

to

provide

localities

with

financial

and

tech-

nical

assistance

in

developing

and

expanding

delinquency

prevention

programs.

In

1960

the

State

Youth

Commission

became

the

Division

for

Youth

and

was

given

the

additional

responsibility

of

developing

residential

and

non-residential

experimental

programs

for

youths

aged

15-17

as

alternatives

to

the

state’s

training

schools.

In

1962,

following

several

years

of

study,

the

state

created

the

Family

Court

system

through

passage

of

the

Family

Court

Act

(N.Y.

Laws

1962,

c.

686).

In

addition

to

the

creation

of

the

Family

Court

itself,

the

Act

contained

a

number

of

provisions

that

shaped

the

development

of

juvenile

justice

in

New

York

during

the

1960s

and

1970s.

First,

New

York

became

the

first

state

to

statu-

torily

distinguish

the

category

status

offenders

(Persons

in

Need

of

Super-