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Sign the Health Impact Statement of Support
Involvement in the legal system has significant and direct impacts on the health of individuals and communities. These health impacts are compounded by overt and structural racism resulting in minorities being at higher risk for these negative health consequences. LGBTQ youth and youth of color are also disproportionally affected. Legal-system involved young people experience poorer health outcomes as a result of being treated and prosecuted as adults in comparison to similar youth prosecuted in the juvenile system. The Raise the Age campaign seeks to provide an avenue for older adolescents to be charged as juveniles. By shifting 18- to 20-year-olds into the juvenile justice system, they are more likely to be held accountable by engaging in education, family engagement, and therapeutic programming. In comparison to the adult legal system, the juvenile justice system is more likely to focus on positive youth development and reintegration. Additionally, young have greater access to diversion from prosecution and incarceration in the juvenile system. Unlike the (adult) criminal legal system, the juvenile system is required to reduce racial and ethnic disparities by federal and state statute. By decreasing the likelihood that a young person serving time in an adult or any facility, and reoffending, individuals and communities will experience improved health.