Vermont treated 18-year-olds as kids, not criminals — and it worked

Vermont's groundbreaking Raise the Age law sends 18-year-olds accused of most offenses through family court instead of adult court. A new report from the nonprofit Crime Research Group found just 6.9% were reconvicted within a year, versus 24% for teens tried as adults in an earlier baseline. Nearly half of cases end in diversion, where young people take responsibility through a restorative justice process. 'This shows that every component of the system is working,' said Marshall Pahl, the state's top juvenile defense attorney. The comparison comes with caveats, but the direction is clear: rehabilitation beats punishment.