RALEIGH – June marked a major victory for Dennis Gaddy.

The executive director of Community Services Initiative and lobbyist for “Raise the Age,” has fought for the last six years to increase the age that 16- and 17-year-olds who commit misdemeanors and low-level felonies are tried as adults. The new legislation will take effect December 2019 and is not retroactive for those charged before then.

“I am very excited that ‘Raise the Age’ has received broad bipartisan support,” Gaddy said. “We are the only state in America that treats children like adults. It is not until you are 25 that you are fully capable of making sound choices. Treating a 16- or 17-year-old like an adult is destroying their life. It is giving them a life sentence.”

William Lassiter, deputy secretary for the Department of Juvenile Justice, also has been a major advocate for raising the age in North Carolina. He explained that critical brain development in the frontal cortex, the area of the brain controlling impulse control, is still occurring at the ages of 16 and 17.

“Studies show that people take the biggest risks of their lives at 15, 16 and 17 years of age,” Lassiter said. “We can have a much greater impact on these youth if we provide age-appropriate interventions. Putting a 16-year-old in a cell next to a 35-year-old only does one thing for them: makes them a better criminal.”  

The problems associated with treating a teen as an adult run deep and perpetuate the cycle of poverty and crime. A criminal record haunts these youth for years after they have served their sentence, making it difficult to find employment, attend college and find a place to live, leading the vast majority back into a cycle of poverty and crime.

Comparatively, those treated with age-appropriate interventions that deal with underlying challenges like substance abuse and mental health issues have a significantly higher chance of reentering society and living productive lives. Lassiter said recidivism rates can be as low as 12 percent with appropriate interventions.

Raising the age does come at an initial cost to taxpayers. As of 2014, there were 255,018 16- and 17-year-olds in the North Carolina criminal justice system. Of those, more than 80 percent were convicted of misdemeanor and minor felonies, meaning the juvenile system will see a steep increase in activity starting in December 2019.

“It is important to note that this legislation is not just raising the age with this legislation,” Gaddy said. “There is also increased funding for the court system to be able to accomplish the transition and prepare for the influx of cases.”

The budget provides funding for a new $13.2 million youth development center in Rockingham County, as well as additional funds for district attorneys.
Rob Thompson, the senior policy and communications adviser for NC Child, explained that while implementation of the new legislation will be an upfront expense and logistical challenge for the state, he ultimately expects to see cost savings as recidivism rates drop.

“It is more expensive upfront to have children in the juvenile justice system because they are getting a robust treatment for their problems,” he said. “But in the end, they can go to college, get a job, pay taxes and become productive citizens, something that is significantly harder with a criminal record.”
Preparing for the change will be a logistical challenge for the state, but one that Lassiter and Gaddy are confident North Carolina is preparing for.

“There is a lot of planning that needs to be done to implement this successfully,” Lassiter said. “We need to build a facility, hire and train staff, and train law enforcement. We need to make sure everything is implemented correctly so this goes smoothly.”

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