Louisiana doesn’t see safety improve when 17-year-olds are jailed far from home

Imagine a 17-year-old boy on a prison bus being taken nearly 200 miles from his home  in East Baton Rouge Parish because its jail cannot house him separately from adults as required under federal law. He is innocent until proven guilty but still sent away to a jail in Jackson Parish, far from his family, lawyer, school and community. 

Louisiana spends public money to move 17-year-olds from parishes without separate facilities for adults and minors because a state law change in 2024 treats them, regardless of the offense, as adults and no longer allows them to go to juvenile detention. But parish jails still must house them separately under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law approved in 2003. To prevent sexual abuse behind bars, its prohibits housing anyone under age 18 within the sight or sound of adult inmates.

Louisiana approved a Raise the Age law in 2016 to include 17-year-olds in its juvenile justice system. Its reversal two years ago moved them back to adult courts and detention, regardless of the offense. It also forces parishes to pay high rates to confine them far from home, and critics say the policy produces outcomes that weaken rather than strengthen public safety.

For example, St. Landry Parish now pays $325 per day to house each 17-year-old at the Jackson Parish Correctional Center, up from $250 in 2024, according to parish President Jessie Bellard. 

As reported by The Advocate, East Baton Rouge Parish spends $100 each day to secure a bed and an extra $175 daily for each teenager it sends to jails in Jackson and Catahoula parishes. Records show East Baton Rouge pays about $1.17 million more each year than before the Raise the Age law was changed. 

The state broke ground last year on an 80-bed Concordia Parish facility that will house only 17-year-olds from nine parishes. Without ensuring local jails had capacity for keeping the affected teens separate from adults, repealing the Raise the Age law shifted unavoidable costs onto parish budgets and the public’s pocketbooks.

Let us put logistics aside and concentrate on young people for a minute. 

Washington Parish Sheriff Jason Smith told The Advocate that sending a teen to Jackson Parish “deprives the 17-year-old who, again, is presumed innocent, from visiting with his family.” 

An American Bar Association assessment found that distant detention facilities can make it difficult for lawyers to meet with young clients. 

State inspectors found the Jackson Parish jail fell short of required school-day minutes, The Appeal reported last year. David Utter, an attorney representing youth in state custody, said two state agencies found the jail lacking basic treatment and educational programs. 

In a 2011 academic study, psychologists found incarcerated teens who received visits from parents experienced a faster decline in depression symptoms than those who did not. The longer a child is held in far-flung jurisdiction, the less families can provide the support their child needs while detained, a federal review determined.

Holding 17-year-olds responsible is crucial, especially after they’ve inflicted serious harm. But experts have found treating them as adults does not guarantee public safety.

An independent study published by the U.S. Department of Justice showed that transferring adolescents into adult systems contributed to a median 33.7% increase in violent rearrest compared with youth kept in the juvenile system. 

Those in power in Louisiana cannot deny that, at 17, adolescents still depend on family, school routines and supportive relationships. Confinement can interrupt education and compound existing mental health vulnerabilities. In some cases, detention might be necessary. but Louisiana should not mistake confinement for rehabilitation or distance for accountability.

The $325 a day St. Landry Parish spends should be reserved for young people who genuinely require secure confinement, not as a substitute for intensive, family-centered intervention for 17-year-olds who can be safely supervised at home. 

One example is multisystemic therapy, an intensive family- and community-based program for teens who have committed serious offenses. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy estimates the program cost $9,486 per adolescent in 2022, or about 29 days of St. Landry pays to jail its youth in Jackson Parish. 

The Washington program returns $3.01 for every dollar spent, according the the institute’s analysis 

“Kids do better when they’re home,” Utter, the attorney representing imprisoned juveniles, told The Appeal. “… Kids do better when we wrap services around them in their community. But Louisiana keeps on sending children to these punitive environments in the face of proven justice policy.”

Our state pays to ship 17-year-olds away without making their communities safer. It is buying distance from parents, schools, lawyers and the very conditions that could help a teenager come home and stay home.