Kansas’ juvenile justice system should be doing more to keep our communities safe and to make better use of state funds. Our juvenile code was written in 1996. Since then, research has shown many strategies once believed to fight youth crime actually do more harm than good — and at great cost to taxpayers. Other states are adopting smarter approaches to juvenile justice that result in declining crime rates and more cost-effective systems.

The Council of State Governments recently issued a report showing that Kansas’ juvenile justice system is falling further and further behind other states: 

• Kansas ranks eighth worst in the nation for over-confinement of youths.

• 80 percent of youths sent into the custody of our Department of Corrections are not high-risk.

• Our mandatory minimum sentences for children force them to stay in our juvenile prisons far longer than is necessary for rehabilitative treatment. Almost half stay longer than a year, though research shows shorter sentences are more effective.

Incarceration is the most expensive response to youth crime and the least effective at promoting rehabilitation. In fact, low- and moderate-risk kids actually become more likely to reoffend when they are incarcerated.

Kansas spends more than $26 million a year on juvenile prisons and more than $27 million on other out-of-home placements for youths in the juvenile justice system. Many of those kids could be safely managed at home, and research shows community-based programs do a better job at preventing recidivism. A study by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy found that the benefits of such programs in preventing reoffending and other negative outcomes far exceeded their modest upfront costs. The 2001 study put the net benefit of Functional Family Therapy at more than $30,000 per kid in the program and the net benefit of Multisystemic Therapy at more than $18,000.

States that rely on evidence-based community programs and minimize the incarceration of youths have fared better than Kansas. Connecticut has reduced state confinement of children by over 70 percent since 1997.  When Connecticut recently closed an adult prison, state officials credited the success of their reformed juvenile system in preventing repeat offending. Since 1997, 28 other states have reduced confinement of children more than Kansas, and those states continue to see falling juvenile crime rates.

Kansas should follow the lead of other states and reform our juvenile justice code. We should reserve our juvenile prisons for those few kids who commit violent felonies; we should eliminate mandatory minimums for children; we should only send kids to out-of-home placements if they require specialized programs not available in their community; and we should invest heavily in prevention and intensive intervention programs in our communities.

In response to the Council of State Governments report, Rep. John Rubin, who chairs the Kansas House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee, told his fellow lawmakers, “I dare say this is somewhat of a wake-up call for us.” When it comes to our kids, Kansas should be leading the country, not falling further behind.  Our Legislature should enact broad reform legislation in 2016 that reduces the confinement of kids and invests in proven community solutions.