If you are considering adopting a teenager from the foster care system then you are probably aware that many have been in trouble with the law. Time in the state juvenile facility may be in their history or in their future. In 14 of the states located here in the U.S.A, adult state prison may also be in your teenager’s future. While it isn’t always possible to influence a teenager to change directions, what chance will the adoptive parent have if the teenager is in prison?

One of our teenagers came to us well trained in the art of shoplifting by her first mother. While she understood that shoplifting was illegal, she had been encouraged and rewarded by her parents for doing it. They had also rewarded her for egging or otherwise defacing neighbors’ property.

Another teenager came to us diagnosed with a conduct disorder. She preferred to settle her problems by physical and verbal confrontation. When I met her first mother, I understood where she had learned her techniques. She also liked to cut and burn herself.

Once, during her years with us, we had her arrested and taken to the juvenile facility. If she had been 17 at the time, she could have gone to prison as an adult. If that had happened, we would not have been able to help her finish high school. Fortunately, she came back and she was able to earn her diploma and find a job.

That is part of the argument against sending 17 year olds to prison. Child advocates argue that teenagers are better served by rehabilitation, and I have to agree. In our juvenile facility, teenagers must attend school daily and gym where instructors require calisthenics.

Another argument used for sending teenagers to adult prison was to save money. Apparently, it cost about $40,000 a year to house an adult in prison, compared to $98,000 to house a teenager in training school. What state officials didn’t take into consideration was that they are now imprisoning teenagers who might have been sent home with their parents instead. In addition, someone forgot to tell them that the teenagers are put in protective custody, away from older hardened inmates, at an average annual cost of $104,000.

The states using this type of system are Rhode Island, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin, Connecticut, New York, and North Carolina. The last three on the list try 16 year olds as adults as well.

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