RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — An ongoing 8News investigation has revealed that Virginia leads the nation in referring kids to cops, courts, and correctional centers.
Rallying outside the General Assembly on Friday, a group of community activists had a message for lawmakers: “Incarcerating kids doesn’t work.”
They argue that many of the state’s youth prison population might be better served with therapy of community programs. It reveals more than half of the kids in the state’s youth prisons were physically abused, many by a family member. 58 percent come from a home where a parent was involved in criminal activity.
Community activists like Amy Woolard with Senior Voices for Virginia’s Children are pressing the state to close its youth prisons, and it appears the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice may agree.
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