BALTIMORE — Lawmakers approved House Bill 814 in the spring, but despite that, not everyone is welcoming the new law with open arms.
"While I understand why the police and elected officials and our prosecutors think this is a quick fix, it's not going to change materially the kinds of decisions or fear that young people live with on their own and why they make bad choices sometimes," says Kelly Quinn.
Kelly Quinn, managing director of the Choice program at UMBC, says certain language in the law, like charging 10 to 12-year-olds with a crime, can be traumatizing and may not influence better behavior down the line.
But the state's attorney, Ivan Bates, says not holding children accountable for the crimes they commit even at a young age can be detrimental and doesn't protect the public from repeat youthful offenders.
"The data and information says to discipline young people must be swift and certain consequences; this bill does one thing that is super important; it now makes sure that swiftly we can get these cases into court," says Ivan Bates.
Another part of the new law that causes concern is the expansion of the probation period for minors.
"Now instead of six months period of probation, it will be a year period of probation and could be technically extended. That's important because now the young person can get in the program; they need to be rehabilitated; this bill is about rehabilitation," says Bates.
Quinn agrees having more time for those rehabilitation services is a good thing for children, but she says the long probation period can do harm as well.
"That also means any mistake that young people make, including missing appointments with their probation officers, could result in them getting violated and going into commitment-oriented detention," says Quinn.
She says this is just one example of challenges for children who end up in the juvenile justice system. She says what most children really need is support from the community, which she says is a positive point within the new law.
"They're kids, and they want to learn, and they need to learn some life skills, and so you need a team of people like us in choice or an organization like We Our Us to really wrap their arms around them and try to be supportive and help young people make better choices," says Kelly Quinn.
The states attorney agrees, but he says the method by which children are getting support has to ensure changed behavior. He says how the new law is written accounts for that.
"It's not about mass incarceration; this bill is not about locking up young people, but what it's about is accountability in the system but also finding accountability for our young people," says Bates.
