Against a national backdrop of declining juvenile crime rates and dramatic falls in the number of kids in facilities, the continued criminalization of status offenses seems like an artifact of another era. Punishing and confining kids for nonviolent misbehaviors that pose little to no public safety risk does nothing to address the underlying personal and family needs that social service systems have failed to treat, but it has potentially far-reaching, negative consequences on kids’ well-being. Furthermore, status offenses are at the very front end of the entire justice system—the earliest point of contact where young people have only misbehaved. If this point of contact is disproportionate—as it is for girls, poor kids, kids of color, and LGBT/GNC youth—then the discrepancy in incarceration and recidivism will ripple throughout the rest of the justice system and society at large. 

Instead, what is required is a strong commitment to better serve young people and their families, and to do so in their own homes and communities. Systems must reframe these cases to focus on diversion and prevention, rather than potential detention, incarceration, or other legal and life-long consequences. This not only includes closing the proverbial “courthouse door” to these cases, but also training system actors to recognize the contexts and factors that drive a kid’s behavior and to effectively communicate and respond when these problematic behaviors arise. As this report has documented, this is not necessari­ly what happens today. 

The misuse of courts for status offense cases is not inevitable. Changing the nation’s approach will require a concerted effort from all the agencies that play a role in working with kids. By ensuring that every system actor is pushing these cases away from court and toward community-level responses at every turn, jurisdictions can stop the formal processing of status offenses, get families the supports they need, and help kids grow into healthy adulthood.