Photo taken April 23, 2026
From left to right: Jayden Hernandez, Reese Thompson, and Jason Rankins. (Chris Lisinski/CommonWealth Beacon)

IS A 17-YEAR-OLD more deserving of a second chance than an 18-year-old? More than a 19-year-old? Too often, young adults in the criminal justice system are told that the second they turn 18 their mistakes are who they are rather than something they can learn from.

We know this is not true. That’s why we support legislation that would raise the age of jurisdiction for juvenile courts to all those under 21 years old. This would show young adults that they are redeemable, that they are worth investing in.

Raise the Age legislation (H.1923/S.1061) is sponsored in the House by Reps. James O’Day of West Boylston and Manny Cruz of Salem and in the Senate by Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn. It would raise the age of Juvenile Court jurisdiction from those under 18 to those under 21, allowing young adults aged 18 to 20 to have their cases handled in the more developmentally appropriate juvenile system.

We are youth advocates from the nonprofit More Than Words, a program that teaches young people in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems how to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business. More Than Words is a bookstore and thrift shop, with locations in Boston’s South End neighborhood, Waltham, and Cambridge.

It is a job training program that allows youth to be supported during their time within the system when they struggle with hearings in court, the Department of Children and Families system, finding stable housing, and more. During a youth’s time at More Than Words, they receive guidance in both their personal and professional life as they strive towards a sustainable future. As youth working there, we have personal experience in the state systems of child welfare and criminal justice.

The juvenile system includes education support and doesn’t leave a young person with a criminal record for life. The Council on State Governments reported that 18- to 24-year-olds face lower recidivism rates when sentenced through the juvenile system. The difference is staggering, with 76 percent of youth sentenced in the adult system reconvicted of crimes within the first three years of release as opposed to only 26 percent of those sentenced in the juvenile system. But raising the age is not just a sound policy change — it’s a moral imperative.

Others argue that 18- to 20-year-olds are adults and should be treated as such. But neuroscience shows that brain development continues into the mid 20s, especially in areas related to impulse control and decision-making. The law should reflect what science already knows: Young people are still growing, still learning, and still capable of change.

The research is clear, yet the political will remains elusive.

When we enter the State House and share our stories in lobbying for Raise the Age legislation, we’re praised for our bravery. We’re told our voices matter. But praise is not legislative progress; the bill dies. Again and again. Each time, it sends a message: Our pain is powerful testimony, but not powerful enough to shape policy. That cycle isn’t just frustrating; it’s exhausting.

The truth that we need the world to see is that the justice system preys on us when we’re most vulnerable. Our families — disproportionately poor, non-white, and underserved — are hit hardest. Instead of receiving help, we’re institutionalized. The adult justice system favors punishment over healing, fueling cycles of recidivism rather than addressing root causes.

By age 17, more than half of foster youth in a 2004 study had a history of arrest. An arrest once they turn 18 would put them in the adult justice system, a sudden switch from systems meant to protect and help youth to one that incarcerates them. We are young people with full lives ahead of us, and we are being failed by the systems lawmakers refuse to fix.

Massachusetts spends more than twice as much as any other state per incarcerated individual. The state’s incarceration rate has fallen dramatically, yet the staffing budget remains the same. This money could be allocated towards reforms in both the juvenile and adult systems but is instead being used to staff facilities in the adult system with fewer incarcerated individuals.

Rehabilitation works. When we are given support, education, and opportunity, we thrive. When we are locked away and labeled as criminals, we are pushed further from the futures we deserve.

Yes, raising the age will take investment and change. It will require more resources, time, and staff. It might require reductions of staff and budgets in the adult system. It will require coordination across agencies and systems. But it will save the state money in the long run. It will reduce recidivism rates, increase public safety, and allow communities to flourish. It will keep youth out of long-term cycles that prevent them from re-engaging meaningfully and productively in the community.

Justice reform is not supposed to be easy — it’s supposed to be just. And the cost of inaction is far greater: more lives lost and dollars committed to incarceration, more families broken, more futures denied.

Raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction is not about being soft on crime — it’s about being smart about where we invest our public safety dollars. It’s about recognizing that young people develop into adulthood well past age 18, and that rehabilitation works better than incarceration. It’s about asking the state to see us not as problems to be managed, but as people to be supported. It’s about investing in people’s futures, not in policy failures.

We’re asking lawmakers and constituents to act — not later, not next session, but now. Calling your state legislators and asking them for their support is just one crucial piece of the puzzle. Because every delay costs lives, and every ignored story deepens the harm.

We are asking to be seen, to be heard, and for action to be taken. We’re asking lawmakers to offer more than words.

Reese Thompson, Jayden Hernandez, Ethan Shamey, and Jason Rankins are members of the Power is Yours team at More than Words.