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Youth groups fight Hochul’s ‘Raise the Age’ change amid battle over bail and budget
Youth service providers and advocates from across the state are condemning Gov. Hochul’s last-minute attempt to include rollbacks to New York’s Raise the Age laws in the state budget.
A coalition of groups warned Hochul and legislative leaders against doing anything that could dilute Raise the Age, which increased New York’s age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 years old.
“Rolling back Raise the Age will not make New York safer,” the groups wrote in a letter addressed to Hochul and both legislative leaders. “While it is clear that the uptick in gun violence is an epidemic that requires action, the Raise the Age law is not responsible for this crisis.”
The groups, writing as part of the Raise the Age NY coalition, include the Children’s Defense Fund-NY, Children’s Aid, Good Shepherd and Westchester Children’s Association as well as statewide youth mental health providers and advocates like the New York State Psychiatric Association and the Coalition for Behavioral Health.
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