Status:
Active
Youth Justice

Ending Childhood Prosecution (2022 & 2023)

HB 22-1131 (Gonzales-Gutierrez)
Location
Colorado

Children deserve care and support, not cages and confinement. This is particularly true for children and youth who should be kept out of the juvenile court system entirely. 
Colorado allows the harmful practice of allowing children under the age of 12 to be criminalized in the juvenile court system. 

The Ending Childhood Prosecution Act brings Colorado into alignment with current understanding that subjecting young children to juvenile court prosecution is ineffective and harmful to their emotional and physical wellbeing. The bill ends the early criminalization of children by establishing a minimum age for juvenile court prosecution at age 12 and instead offers opportunity for them to succeed with effective, cost-effective community services.