Too often, young people who are unsafe at home end up entangled in the juvenile legal system. This is particularly true for girls and gender expansive youth, who are often criminalized due to family conflict, abuse, and housing instability.

Bresha Meadows endured years of verbal and physical abuse from her father. She repeatedly reached out to family members, school staff, and even the police for help, to no avail. Then, one day when she was 14 years old, she used her father’s gun to kill him. Police arrested Meadows. A survivor of domestic abuse, she was held in juvenile detention for one year and then confined to a mental health treatment facility for six months as the details of her experience drew national attention.

While Meadows’s experience is among the most devastating examples, it is unfortunately rather routine for girls who are experiencing family conflict or violence to experience juvenile legal system involvement. One study shows that up to 84 percent of girls in the juvenile legal system have experienced family violence. Girls may run away to escape violence or abuse at home and subsequently encounter law enforcement. Efforts to escape abuse or unsafe home environments, like running away or needing money to survive independently, can make youth resort to minor offenses like shoplifting to meet basic needs, which can lead to their criminalization. Young people trying to escape are also vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation—another major driver of incarceration for girls and gender expansive youth.

Misguided efforts to “protect” girls

Child welfare, behavioral health, education, and other child-serving systems often push girls and gender expansive youth in these situations into the juvenile legal system in a misguided effort to “protect” them from further harm. But the “solutions” offered by the legal system often include locking youth in a facility or forcing them to comply with one-size-fits-all services like anger management or counseling programs. While these efforts aim to address girls’ behaviors, like running away, they too often fail to address the root cause of what is driving behavior in the first place—the need for safety from the abuse they are experiencing. As a 2024 Vera report underscores, confining girls for their own safety “exposes them to more harm, and exacerbates the very issues that brought them to court in the first place.”

“It’s never appropriate to incarcerate girls for their own safety or in order to provide them with services and supports,” said Lindsay Rosenthal, director of Vera’s Ending Girls’ Incarceration initiative.

Moreover, once girls and gender expansive youth become involved in the legal system, even for minor infractions, they can experience cycles of probation and incarceration that last years. Infractions like running away from home or placement settings, missing mandated therapy or anger management classes, and skipping school can all lead to further detention and incarceration.

Research shows the pitfalls of this approach. Arresting and detaining young people does not prevent future contact with the criminal legal system; rather, it is counterproductive and can substantially increase the likelihood of system contact. In the juvenile legal system, young people often continue to experience the same harms that led to their confinement, such as a failure to meet their most basic needs and verbal, sexual, and physical abuse—this time, in the very facilities where they were placed in an effort to protect them.

Rosenthal points out that while incarceration is far from an appropriate response for girls who are experiencing family conflict, abuse, or housing instability, there are also many complex challenges within the child welfare system. Among those challenges is an overreliance on group homes and institutional settings, which research shows are also often unsafe for young people.

Other ways to more effectively address girls’ needs

The challenges that commonly lead to the incarceration of girls and gender expansive youth can be more effectively addressed. For example, in Santa Clara County, California, government and community leaders have worked together to reduce girls’ incarceration over the last six years by identifying gaps in services and determining how to fill them through community-based programs and organizations. Gender-responsive programs play a key role in making this possible.

Organizations such as the Young Women’s Freedom Center (YWFC) in California and Rising Ground in New York offer support and mentorship to young people, help mediate with families when appropriate, and, when needed, try to find better living arrangements for the young person.

“Programs like YWFC and Rising Ground are critical because they listen to young people, build rapport, and partner with them to develop goals and strategies for how they want to manage difficult situations to find safety, rather than intervening with control and punishment,” said Rosenthal.

Another solution that Rosenthal is excited about is underway in Travis County, Texas. The Travis County Transformation Project is a pilot program that diverts young people away from the juvenile legal system into a restorative justice program. When officers arrive at a home after a young person has been accused of an act of violence, parents are able to opt into the program. Instead of arrest, the young person begins a respite stay at a shelter, during which they receive rides to school, meals, and access to counseling. The young person and their family are connected to services and support, including family therapy.

“No child should have to be arrested to receive the help that they need,” said Travis County District Attorney José Garza.

When young people are unsafe or involved in conflict at home, system actors too readily default to juvenile legal system involvement. These community-centered programs and initiatives offer real solutions instead of juvenile legal system involvement, which too often exacerbates harm.

“Communities need to make smart investments in community-led services that help young people and their families heal,” said Rosenthal. “These initiatives not only provide better outcomes for young people but do so for pennies on the dollar compared to incarceration.”