Teen [Incarcerated Individuals] Leave Rikers Island Ahead of ‘Raise the Age’ Deadline

Under New York State’s “Raise the Age” law, New York City will transfer all 16- and 17-year-olds off Rikers Island and into a juvenile detention facility.

JoAnne Page – the president and CEO of the Fortune Society, a group that advocates for alternatives to incarceration – applauds the move but is concerned that 300 correction officers will be joining the teens instead of juvenile counselors.

“The dose of rehabilitation in the juvenile facility should be very high,” she told WCBS 880 reporter Mike Smeltz. “The people who should be working with those kids should be people who are trained in adolescent development.”