To Our Elected Officials:

The Council of Parent/Teacher Associations (PTA Council) of the City School District of New Rochelle supports legislation to raise the age of criminal responsibility in the State of New York to 18.  

This is why:

New York is one of two states (the other is North Carolina) that automatically treat all 16 and 17 year olds as adults. Last year, Governor Cuomo appointed a Commission to develop a comprehensive plan to make New York a leader in juvenile justice and now we need you to make this plan into law! It’s time to treat children as children and stop the pipeline to prison that all too often results in marginalized lives, incarceration and long-term collateral consequences.

The Governor’s proposed legislation includes a number of critical reforms that will reduce recidivism and ensure that children receive age-appropriate services, including:

∙Parental notification of arrests for 16 and 17 year olds.

∙No youth ages 16 or 17 years old in adult prisons or jails where they are more susceptible to abuse and suicide than adults.

∙Expanded diversion, adjustment and other age-appropriate services, including alternatives to detention and incarceration, to provide youth with alternatives to the justice system and services proven to reduce their likelihood of re-offending;

∙Broadened eligibility for conditional sealing of records for certain crimes, to better address the collateral consequences of court involvement and help youth become more successful adults.

Raising the age will not only produce better outcomes for New York’s youth but has also been proven to better protect public safety with multiple studies showing that youth who receive age-appropriate services are less likely to re-offend.

Now we need YOU to help make this a reality. Please support Raise the Age in upcoming budget negotiations and help ensure your colleagues vote yes too!

For more information on Raise the Age, click on the links below:

http://raisetheageny.com/​

https://www.governor.ny.gov/keywords/raise-age