Capping the Rhode Island Training School Population
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT presented testimony at hearing regarding the FY2008 Supplemental Budget Article 13 proposal to cap the population of the Rhode Island Training School at 148 boys and 12 girls. The testimony can be read here. More information about the proposal is available in this factsheet.

Age of Jurisdiction for the Rhode Island Family Court
The Rhode Island Family Court has jurisdiction over delinquent and wayward children and youth under age 18. Between July 1 and November 8, 2007 there was a temporary change in the law establishing the age of jurisdiction of the Rhode Island Family Court. The maximum age at which youth could be brought before the Family Court was lowered from 18 to 17 and the maximum age for continued monitoring by the Family Court was lowered from 21 to 19. This resulted in approximately 500 17-year-olds being charged and referred to adult courts during this 4-month period.

On October 30, 2007, the General Assembly increased the age of Family Court jurisdiction back up to age 18. This reversal, which took effect on November 8, 2007, included a provision that would seal the records of youth affected by the change. The reversal was not retroactive, leaving the estimated 500 17-year-olds who had been charged as adults during this period in the adult legal process.

A series of judicial decisions in late 2007 and early 2008 resulted in approximately 400 misdemeanor cases involving 17-year-olds (of the estimated 500 total 17-year-olds charged) being returned from the District Court to the jurisdiction of the Family Court. As of February 2008, the Attorney General’s office reported having referred 93 cases of 17 year-olds to the Superior Court (70 of which had resulted in charges and 23 of which were still being screened).

Between July 1, 2007 and November 8, 2007, 59 youth who were 17 years old (53 males and 6 females) were charged as adults and awaited trial at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI), 45 of whom were subsequently released. An additional 6 males were sentenced to the ACI during this period, 4 of whom were incarcerated at the ACI and released before the repeal of the law and 2 of whom remained incarcerated at the ACI after the repeal of the law.