As a mother of three and having worked for decades with young people and educational institutions, I know that effective responses to crimes committed by young people are critical to ensuring long-term public safety.

We’ve always known that children under the age of 18 are not developmentally mature, and this is why most teens are prosecuted in juvenile court, which focuses on rehabilitation. Now scientists know that even the brains and decision-making systems of young adults are still maturing. This makes them more prone to risk-taking, but like their younger counterparts, it also makes them more responsive to re-education and rehabilitation. 

In Massachusetts, emerging adults—those aged 18–25—make up about 10% of the population, but they account for over 29% of arrests, 23% of House of Correction commitments, and 20% of Department of Correction commitments.  In Norfolk County in 2025, there were approximately five hundred young adults with pending criminal cases.

Even more concerning is the fact that 76% of emerging adults released from Houses of Correction in Massachusetts were rearrested or re-arraigned within three years of release. This figure is the highest among any age group in the state’s adult criminal justice system. Despite the expansion of diversion and prevention services in Massachusetts, gaps remain in access to intensive behavioral health and substance use treatment, and these gaps contribute to recidivism. There will always be crimes for which incarceration is the most appropriate outcome. But in many cases, there are alternatives that can both redress harm and prevent recidivism.

Providing real accountability with rigorous, personalized, and structured support for emerging adults who commit crime could help redress harm while also helping young adults “age out” of offending by their mid-twenties, thereby reducing costs and, more importantly, improving long-term public safety.

As District Attorney, I will:

• Prosecute all juvenile offenses based on an individual assessment of the merits of each case, considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances and the impact of the crime on individual victims or the community. 

• In most circumstances, offer diversion with individualized conditions for nonviolent offenses committed by juveniles and emerging adults

• Collaborate with stakeholders to establish an Emerging Adults Court that holds offenders accountable while also providing individualized support and access to wrap-around services needed to prevent recidivism.