Head of DOJ’s youth justice office hails Hennepin County’s reform efforts

A longtime youth advocate and U.S. Department of Justice official joined Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty this week in Minneapolis, where she lauded local efforts in juvenile justice reform as a model for the nation.

“What you’re seeking to do here totally aligns with what we’re trying to do,” said Liz Ryan, who was appointed by President Joe Biden as administrator of the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

More than a year into her first term as county attorney, Moriarty invited Ryan to serve as keynote speaker for a youth justice symposium Thursday attended by 150 attorneys, educators, policymakers and advocates.

Later that evening, Ryan met dozens of students at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Minneapolis, where she said the passionate young adults in the room gave her “goose bumps” as they talked about the legacy of civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis on the first day of Black History Month.

In both stops of Ryan’s visit, the optimism was evident despite the tough conversations addressing root causes of crime, and the ways systems fail to help youth — often youth of color — before they end up in the criminal justice system.

Ryan said the goal of her office is to ensure youth don’t come into contact with the system, and if they do, “that it is rare, that it is fair, and that is beneficial.”

“Kids make rash decisions and they act on impulse, which can lead them down the wrong path,” Ryan said. “But they can change. Kids are capable of change.”

Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in 1973 establishing Ryan’s office. The act removed children from adult prisons and established grants to improve local systems and prevent juvenile crime by incentivizing community-based programs rather than institutionalizing youth.

Ryan’s office recently awarded $1 million to Hennepin County and two other U.S. jurisdictions to reform and reinvest in juvenile justice.

“We’re not the only community that’s experiencing the challenges that we are,” said Sarah Davis, director of the Children and Families Division of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, in an interview. “We can’t just keep doing the same thing and expect different outcomes.”

Davis said that what the office is trying to implement — evidence-based approaches for transformative change that improves public safety — is not “out of left field.” Ryan’s office recommends such steps, and other communities are taking them, too.

Leaders of Yellow Medicine County’s Department of Restorative Justice served on the symposium panel. Director Sharon Hendrichs said the department has stopped placing children in detention centers and foster care, decreasing spending from $656,000 to $50,000. She said that leaves more funding for healing and rehabilitation through what she called a “circle,” bringing together victims, offenders and community members.

Hendrichs said data proves this approach works, but officials shouldn’t have to prove it for the county to invest in the work. Though county departments may ask for new snowplows, she said, “we don’t know if it’s going to snow. Look at this year.”

Early data from Hennepin County’s new approach to deterring youth auto theft, which spiked in and around the COVID-19 pandemic, has shown promising results. Moriarty’s office created a program to identify at-risk youth before they are caught up in or charged with auto theft by referring them to a social worker.

Since launching the program last summer, Moriarty said that 88% of the 82 young people referred had no new cases.

Ryan said youths sent to a detention center are 23 times more likely to be killed by gun violence than other young people. A small number of youths commit crime, she said, and instead are much more likely to be crime victims.

Ryan said her agency has found that most young people who engage in delinquent behavior eventually age out of it. She said young people who receive community-based services were more likely to attend school, access work opportunities and avoid further justice system involvement.

“To be clear, we’re not excusing delinquent behavior,” Ryan said. “We know that there’s a path towards rehabilitation and growth for young people.”

Moriarty’s office has been criticized for offering probation and treatment to defendants in some high-profile murder cases rather than lengthy prison terms.

The backlash was so severe that Moriarty said she hired security after receiving an onslaught of death threats. She said people often agree with her and believe youth can be rehabilitated — just not when it comes to murder.

“There’s a line there,” Moriarty said on stage with Ryan and other panelists. “To me, it’s more about this person’s maybe morals, how they judge, what they think should be a penalty, a punishment. ... It’s not at all about whether this kid is capable for rehabilitation. And knowing that every kid is capable of rehabilitation makes me hopeful.”

The grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention will further Moriarty’s goals of analyzing data to show which juvenile justice approaches succeed and which fail. Davis said the grant will also fund expanded diversion programs, expungement efforts and more conversations in the community.

Ryan and Moriarty did just that in the dimly-lit church basement as they handed a microphone back and forth to talk with co-founders of youth-led organization Good Trouble, Jose Perez and Julian Spencer.

In just a few years, the young adults went from struggling in school and encountering the justice system to advocating for policy changes at the Capitol and sitting on a panel with Ryan and Moriarty.

“The biggest thing for me is really to hear from you all, from young people, because that’s what keeps us on toes and keeps us accountable,” Ryan said.