For decades, far too many prosecutors and judges have relied on incarceration alone to respond to children’s behavior. This approach hasn’t made us safer. Instead, it has harmed our kids, perpetuated racial disparities, and wasted millions of dollars that could be spent supporting children and families.

New Orleans can and must do better. We need to support children who are struggling, rather than arrest and incarcerate them. We need to stop criminalizing Black kids in our schools and neighborhoods. And we need, as quickly as possible, to get youth in the justice system back where kids belong: in their homes, schools, and communities.