Case Explained: Ramsey County transforming youth legal system – Legal Perspective

Ramsey County is seeing success through an initiative aimed at transforming the youth legal system.

It’s called (Re)Imagining Justice for Youth, and shows how community intervention yields better results than traditional methods.

Dr. Tamara Mattison, founder of Generation 2 Generation, is partnering with Ramsey County leaders. She emphasizes the importance of hearing kids’ stories to avoid punitive measures.

“When you hear the story, it makes sense why they made the decision they made,” Mattison said.

The program focuses on low-level crimes, like auto theft or misdemeanor assault, opting for community intervention over court proceedings. It does not include crimes like murder, assault, or anything involving a firearm.

“Yeah, sometimes the kids don’t understand that this process is less chaotic than going through the system,” said Mattison.

Program effectiveness

The initiative shows promise with a one-year recidivism rate in 2022-2023 of 4% compared to 29% for court-processed young people.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said they started this in 2021 and have seen better results over the last five years compared to the previous decade.

“The more times a young person got referred to our office, their outcomes in life just got worse,” said Choi. “We never get to maybe a bigger question about why did this happen.”

Choi is considering expanding the program to include more case types, such as fourth-degree assault cases in which the victims are teachers or police officers. He’s also considering bringing the same approach to young adults.

“Could we be doing something different with a population that might be 18 or 19, 20, 21” said Choi. “At the end of the day, what does the public want? They want this bad behavior to stop.”

Future possibilities

Mattison notes that most cases resolve in about 60 days, with families often staying in touch for ongoing support.