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The Senate Commission on Juvenile and Emerging Adult Justice will be holding a special hearing tomorrow to discuss implementation of Vermont's Raise the Age law. The Committee will hear from Lael Chester, Director of the Emerging Adult Justice Project to dissect the report, discuss outcomes and share implications for Massachusetts' pending Raise the Age legislation.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
9:30AM
State House Room 222
Livestreamed here
The state of Vermont was the first state to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include 18-year-olds back in July 2020. The state commissioned a report to evaluate the impact of raising the age on recidivism among justice-involved 18-year-olds since that time. The evaluation found that the recidivism rate of 18-year-olds dropped from 24% to 7%! The state is on track to fully implement the remainder of the law in July 2027 when juvenile court jurisdiction further expands to include 19-year-olds.
As Massachusetts has a bill pending that would raise the upper age of juvenile jurisdictions to age nineteen, bringing eighteen year old youth into the juvenile justice system as part of a larger economic development bill, S.3221).
Read the Emerging Adult Justice Project analysis of Vermont's implementation
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