Case Explained: New York’s Raise the Age is Making us Safer. Some Want to Roll it Back Anyway – Legal Perspective

In 2017, New York leaders finally ended a national disgrace by passing the Raise the Age law. Before then, New York was one of just two states that treated 16- and 17-year-olds as adults when they were charged with crimes.

By nearly every metric, the law has been a resounding success. But critics of the policy are nevertheless pushing for Raise the Age to be rolled back, which would destroy the progress we’ve made and make New York less safe.

How Raise the Age Works

Before Raise the Age went fully into effect in 2019, New York prosecuted all 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, regardless of what they were charged with. Instead of adult criminal court, most 16- and 17-year-olds’ cases now go through family court where rehabilitation is the primary goal.

Those charged with a misdemeanor offense have their case heard in family court as a “juvenile delinquent.” Young people classified this way do not have criminal records and the proceedings in Family Court are confidential.

16- and 17-year-olds charged with a non-violent felony offense have their case heard in Youth Parts of adult courts. Their case will be transferred to family court unless the prosecutor shows there are “extraordinary circumstances,” that convince a judge to keep the case in the Youth Part of adult court, where adult sentencing applies.

Most of these cases are transferred to family court, which, contrary to what some may believe, is no “get out of jail free” card. Family court cases can result in a range of outcomes, including detention. But the emphasis is on other tools like probation, intensive case management, and mandated family and individual counseling.

People charged under the law with a violent felony offense have their case heard in Youth Parts in adult courts as an Adolescent Offender. If a 16- or 17-year-old is accused of causing significant physical injury, displaying a deadly weapon like a gun, or engaging in any sexual offense – or if the judge finds other “extraordinary circumstances” – the case remains in criminal court, where adult sentencing applies.

Here’s a flow chart that shows what cases are heard in which courts under Raise the Age.

Raise the Age is a Success

Since Raise the Age passed, the number of young people arrested has declined and youth crime is down across the state.

Outside of New York City, youth arrests have decreased 63 percent over the last 10 years (from 2015-2024). Arrests for serious crimes (or “Index Crimes”), which include violent crimes, have decreased 54 percent over the same period.

In New York City, youth arrests have decreased 77 percent over the last 10 years (from 2015-July 15, 2025). Arrests for serious crimes have decreased 50 percent over the same period.

These encouraging numbers should not be a surprise. Contrary to “tough-on-crime” rhetoric, treating young people like adults and putting them in adult prison increases the likelihood they will reoffend when they get released.  Ripping 16- and 17-year-olds away from their families, taking them out of their communities, and placing them with adults in prison – notoriously violent, traumatic places – make them more likely to get arrested again.

Studies show young people transferred to the adult criminal justice system are 34 percent more likely to be re-arrested for crimes than youth who go through the youth justice system. Around 80 percent of young people released from adult prisons reoffend.

Raise the Age Backlash

The usual proponents of caging more New Yorkers – prosecutors, police unions, right-wing tabloids, and politicians with no real solutions for New York’s problems – have come out in force against Raise the Age. These opponents – who have always hated the law and want to score political points by feeding mostly Black and Brown teens into the mass incarceration machine – have latched onto misleading stats to make their dubious case.

They point to an increase in arrests of teenage shooting victims and suspects as a reason to roll back the law. But the truth is Raise the Age did not change the law with regard to 16- and 17-year-olds who use guns. They were, and still are, prosecuted as adults in the youth part of criminal court, where adult sentencing applies.

There has also been an uptick in the number of teens accused of carrying – but not using – guns. This is a tiny percentage of the total number of people accused of crimes, but it is nonetheless concerning. Putting more of these teens in prison for longer periods of time is not the answer. In fact, Raise the Age – if properly implemented – provides a better path forward by funding programs that address the root causes for why young people feel unsafe.

Critical Funding That Was Never Used

The original Raise the Age legislation included $1.5 billion to implement the law. But New York State never delivered on its promise to fund community-based alternatives to incarceration and reentry programs for young people.

As of March 2024, less than a third of that money has been spent. New York City, which accounts for half of the state’s youth justice system population, hasn’t received a dime in Raise the Age funding. And a review of spending plans for the top 10 counties in terms of youth arrests excluding New York City showed that much of the funding has gone towards detention and law enforcement.

State and local leaders have failed to invest in the rehabilitative programs and services evidence shows work to get young people on the right track and promote lasting community safety. Now some are calling to roll back a law that – even though it hasn’t been fully implemented – is working to keep kids and all of us safer.

Instead of taking this backwards approach, state lawmakers should pass the Youth Justice Innovation Fund, which would take $50 million of the annual $250 million appropriated for Raise the Age and dedicate it to directly funding community-based organizations. These programs provide services like mentoring and school support, employment and internships, mental health, counseling and other age-appropriate programs shown to help young people change their lives for the better.

Despite what its detractors claim, Raise the Age is working, and it could do even more good if lawmakers unlocked the hundreds of millions of dollars attached to the law to help make young people, their families, and their communities safer.