Pittsburgh conference: With youth crime down, reform justice

Abigail Baker experienced homelessness more than five times before she turned 20. Although she was never incarcerated, her years of couch surfing helped her see how some find their way into the juvenile justice system, and how that negatively affects them.

"I didn't see myself as homeless, I only saw reality," said Baker, now an advocate in the State College area. "I was forced to grow old in a time that I was still growing up."

Baker and dozens of others interested in youth justice reform gathered for the third annual Voices for Juvenile Justice Conference, held Friday at the Community College of Allegheny County [CCAC]. This year's conference, sponsored by a coalition of juvenile justice advocates, occurred amid a sharp pivot in youth corrections in Allegheny County.

Once county-run, the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center has been run since July by private nonprofit Adelphoi. Renamed Highland Detention at Shuman Center, the facility operates under a five-year, $73 million contract which survived a recently settled lawsuit between County Council and the executive branch. Latrobe-based Adelphoi operates in 30 Pennsylvania counties, and has been the subject of lawsuits alleging that it failed to protect children from abuse.

The county's pact with Adelphoi is the latest chapter in a 180-year saga of youth enforcement and detention in the county.

The conference Friday featured keynote speakers Charles Puzzanchera of the National Juvenile Justice Data Analysis Program and reintegration specialist Ray Miles, plus panels on generational trauma, youth homelessness, employment challenges, substance use harm reduction, youth services and diversion of young people from detention.

Four takeaways from the conference:

Puzzanchera spoke about misconceptions regarding youth violent crime statistics and cautioned against making long-term legislation based on short-term trends.

He noted that annual arrests for youth committing violent crimes like murder, robbery and aggravated assault have, on the whole, declined in the past 40 years.

"When someone asks me if youth violence is down," Puzzanchera said, "historically, we're at a place we've never been."

Although youth robbery and aggravated assault arrests have decreased since before the pandemic nationally and in Pennsylvania, youth murder arrests have increased in the same timespan.

Puzzanchera highlighted the importance of keeping crime statistics in perspective, noting that Pennsylvania has 2 million kids when he said statistics show around 1,850 annual arrests for violent offenses by youth.

Puzzanchera said when violent crime rates are decreasing, legislators have an opportunity to consider ways to improve the carceral system. Historically, when rates increase, he said, legislators have made hasty decisions reinforcing ineffective policies.

"Maybe you rethink what you rethought before," Puzzanchera said.

Miles recounted his experience as a youth impacted by the justice system and advocated for a restorative, rather than punitive, approach.

"Kids in my generation were treated like we were destined for prison or death," Miles said. "When society treats you like a lost cause, it's easy to internalize that message."

He argued for a juvenile justice system that humanizes incarcerated youth and empowers them to make their own decisions.

"[They are] champions for surviving circumstances that would make ordinary people crumble," Miles said, adding that people should ask "not what's wrong with this kid, but what happened to this kid."

Miles spoke about creating more opportunities for youth both inside and outside the justice system, such as addressing inequalities in accessing mental healthcare and exposing at-risk youth to alternate life paths.

"Creating first chances is a responsibility we all share," Miles said. "The progress we've made is proof that change is possible."

Baker, now a youth advocate for the Youth Justice Action Board, spoke about the social stigmas around youth incarceration and how her white privilege helped her find stability.

While Baker was experiencing homelessness as an adolescent, she said she knew about resources available to help her, but had difficulty accepting that she needed help.

"I didn't understand what it was like to advocate for myself," Baker said. "I was stubborn to my own ignorance and I didn't understand that I needed to be understood by others and by myself."

When she gained perspective alongside a more stable living, Baker realized how her whiteness aided her journey. She never faced criminal charges, allowing her to find employment more easily.

"White privilege is often invisible to those who benefit from it," Baker said, adding that racial disparities create a "perpetual cycle of disadvantage that makes it difficult for youth of color to break free."

Cindy LaCom, a member of Western Pennsylvania Continuums of Care and the Elsinore-Bennu Think Tank on Restorative Justice, discussed the difficulties that marginalized people face and the effect of homelessness on incarceration.

LaCom noted disparities that cause youth to enter the carceral cycle, including how the fines and fees imposed by the juvenile justice system drive young people to homelessness.

"When they are released, they're paying a price for not being able to pay those fines," LaCom said, highlighting the contradiction in the "do the crime, do the time" mentality.

LaCom advocated for increased intersectionality training at youth-serving agencies, expanded recruitment of diverse staff at facilities that interact with young people and incorporating anti-oppression curricula in schools as initial solutions to help reduce youth incarceration.

Partners in the conference include CCAC, the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Youth Justice Action Month, George Junior Republic, Cafe Momentum Pittsburgh, Slippery Rock University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Area Community Schools and Highmark Wholecare.