SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – In the past six years, the youth detention population in South Dakota has decreased significantly and the number of juveniles committed to the Department of Corrections has decreased by 65%.

The reduction is a result of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, adopted in 2011.

State coordinator Annie Brokenleg says locking youths up can accelerate criminal behavior by harming mental health and can negatively affect future educational and employment opportunities.

Instead, she says tools now are used to determine which youths are eligible to participate in after school or evening rehabilitation activities.

"They get life skills, they get help with their homework, they do cooking classes, they do community service projects over the weekend, so it's providing them the positive opportunities in the community, versus sitting in detention," she states.

Since the early 1990s, 40 states and Washington, D.C. have adopted the JDAI framework to put children in trouble on a better path.

Developed and supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation, the initiative reports that juvenile detention populations in participating states have been cut in half.

South Dakota has done even better, decreasing the number of youths in detention by 62%.

The detention alternative was introduced in counties that include Sioux Falls and Rapid City, but is now expanding to counties that include Mitchell, Aberdeen and Watertown.

Brokenleg says the goal is not only to safely decrease the number of youths held in detention, but also increase options for them to remain in their communities.

"Kids that can be safely supervised in the community, like through the evening reporting center, they're more likely to graduate high school, they're more likely to maintain steady employment, and will be less likely to re-offend," she points out.

In 2018, only 6% of youths failed to appear for court after being released and only 11% of youth re-offended.

Despite the progress, Brokenleg says improvements are needed in order for every youth, especially South Dakota's Native American youths, to benefit from detention reform.

CHICAGO -- At this week's World Congress on Justice with Children, Illinois experts and researchers shared ways the U.S. could work to get back in step with international norms.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 30 years ago adopted a standard to set a minimum age of criminal responsibility, meaning kids younger than a certain age cannot be arrested and referred to the justice system.

Lisa Jacobs, program manager of the Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy and Practice at Loyola University Chicago, said in Illinois and 21 other states, there is no minimum age, and in some others it is lower than the internationally agreed-upon 14.

"The impact, the very real and lifelong impact of interactions with these legal systems, starting with policing and arrest, it really highlights the urgency with which we must approach setting minimum ages, and raising the ages where they are set currently too low," Jacobs contended.

Jacobs noted there are profound racial disparities in the data of arrests of young children. Black people make up less than 15% of Illinois' population, but 60% to 62% of arrested children age 10 to 13 are Black.

Elizabeth Clarke, executive director of the Juvenile Justice Initiative, said ensuring due-process rights for children who are arrested is a key issue in Illinois and elsewhere in the U.S. She argued the Miranda warning is not child-friendly, and pointed to task-force studies in Chicago showing the police department does not prioritize the legal rights of children.

"If the Miranda warnings are to mean anything, they mean that a child should have a lawyer with them throughout interrogation," Clarke asserted. "That's what Miranda means."

She added when children are interrogated without a lawyer present, it can lead to false confessions and youths being wrongfully convicted.

Speakers said key policy changes to ensure universal representation, and a fair age of criminal responsibility would help reduce disparities and bring the U.S. closer to international standards.

NEW YORK -- This month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law advocates said gives young people who were caught up in the criminal-justice system a second chance.

The legislation expands eligibility for youthful-offender status, which seals the records of adolescents who were prosecuted in adult criminal court prior to turning 19 years old. Under the new law, New Yorkers who were eligible but previously denied youthful-offender status can reapply to have their records sealed five years after completing their sentence.

Julia Davis, director of youth justice and child welfare for the Children's Defense Fund, said it is a relief for people who made mistakes when they were young.

"We see young people making choices that they wouldn't make when they're older," Davis observed. "Giving folks the ability to say 'I'm not really the same person I was when I was 17 or 18 years old' gives them the opportunity to not only have success in their own life but to contribute to that success of their neighborhood, their family and their community."

The youthful-offender status law is an expansion on 2017 legislation, increasing the minimum age for which adolescents could be charged with most crimes as an adult to 18 years old. New York previously was one of only two remaining states to charge 16-year-olds as adults in all cases.

Despite reforms, racial disparities in the juvenile-justice system still persist. According to a February report from The Sentencing Project, Black youths in New York are five times more likely to be incarcerated than their white peers.

Raysa Rodriguez, associate executive director of policy and advocacy for the Citizens' Committee for Children of New York, said the consequences of an adult criminal conviction deepen racial inequity already existing in the state.

"We're really unable to tackle race, equity and injustice without this important reform," Rodriguez contended. "When you think about how inequitable access to employment and living wage are for Black and brown communities, this is an important reform that would remove some of the barriers."

A report this summer from The Sentencing Project found the 2017 "Raise the Age" law successfully brought the rates of youth incarceration in New York adult jails and prisons down to zero.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The North Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week on the racial disparities involved in sentencing kids under 18 to life without parole.

Research shows the sentences are disproportionately used in cases involving young people of color. In North Carolina, Black and brown kids make up more than 90% of those serving life-without-parole sentences.

Dawn Blagrove, executive director of Emancipate North Carolina, made oral agruments on behalf of Darrell Tristan Anderson, a North Carolina man convicted of murder at age 17 who is serving a life-without-parole (L-WOP) sentence.

"North Carolina ranks among ten states that combine to account for 85% of juvenile L-WOP sentences nationwide," Blagrove reported.

Blagrove added she hopes the court will determine no juvenile should serve longer than 25 years before becoming parole-eligible, and those currently serving out their sentences will have an opportunity to experience a meaningful life outside of prison.

Blagrove explained the stark racial disparities seen in life-without-parole sentences are often attributed to higher conviction rates for non-white youths, and to racial bias in how youths of color are charged with crimes.

"There's no way to claim equity or fairness in a process when the results so disproportionately deny life and liberty to black children," Blagrove asserted. "The United States is, shamefully, one of only four countries in the entire world that still imposes L-WOP for juveniles."

Since the 1990s, North Carolina has sentenced 94 minors to life without the possibility of parole. Blagrove argued the color of a child's skin should not be predictive of whether they receive the harshest punishment for a crime.

"In doing so, North Carolina has sent a message that these children's lives have no meaningful value and that they can be disposed of," Blagrove contended.

As of last year, more than 1,400 people were serving juvenile life without parole sentences nationwide. A growing number of states have passed laws prohibiting these sentences for juveniles, according to The Sentencing Project.