CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire is getting some praise and advice from members of a group working to close youth prisons.
Patrick McCarthy and Jane Tewksbury, members of Youth Correctional Leaders for Justice, spoke Friday to the New Hampshire Child Advocate’s working group on juvenile justice. McCarthy is a former president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Tewksbury is a former commissioner of the Department of Youth Services in Massachusetts.
They praised New Hampshire for having fewer than 30 children in its youth detention center, and for recent legislation to bolster community-based supports.
But they noted the high percentage of youth who are in group homes in other institutional settings. They urged state officials to see child welfare, juvenile justice, health and education as one big system instead of separate entities.
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