From the Office of the Child Advocate
Please see this new report from Connecticut Voices for Children —in partnership with the Legislative Advocacy Clinic at the Yale Law School—regarding children under 12 in the justice system. Recently the state’s Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee recommended that the minimum age of juvenile court jurisdiction in Connecticut be raised from 7 to 12, a change which would bring Connecticut’s justice system in line with United Nations’ recommendation that all countries set a minimum age of criminal responsibility, no younger than 12. According to the CT Voices/Yale report, most countries have set a minimum age of criminal responsibility higher than Connecticut and the most common minimum age internationally is 14. In 2018 there were 141 children under the age of 12 in Connecticut that were referred to juvenile court, and approximately 70% of those children were children of color. You can read more about this important topic by following the links below. Fact sheet can be found here: https://ctvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/No-Place-for-a-Child_Just-Facts.pdf Full report can be found here: https://ctvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/No-Place-for-a-Child_Final-Report.pdf