A new report from a youth advocacy group shows MOST teens in the Massachusetts juvenile justice system also have spent time in the care of the state Department of Children and Families.
The group Citizens for Juvenile Justice analyzed the cases of more than 1,000 youth involved with both DCF and the juvenile justice system…. It found those kids were often under DCF supervision by age 5, and were moved several times between foster homes – as frequently as once a month.
Naoka Carey is the executive director of Citizens for Juvenile Justice. She says the kids were also disproportionately minorities. “Compared to the overall population of child welfare kids, there were far far many more boys and far many more kids of color, particularly African American and Latino kids in this group of young people.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services says the state is looking forward to reviewing the report, quote, “in its ongoing effort to provide at-risk youth the support and care they need.”
