Report: Most Youth Jailed Because State Lacks Better Options

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A new analysis has found the majority of nonviolent youth are jailed in Maine because the state's juvenile system lacks treatment options.

The Bangor Daily News states that the report commissioned by the Maine Juvenile System Assessment found the state unnecessarily imprisons juveniles who pose “low or moderate” risk to the public.

While the report does not go as far as suggesting the state eliminate youth detention entirely, it does suggest that Maine only needs “a limited secure detention and corrections capacity to protect the public from youth who pose a significant danger to others.”