The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin recently released a policy report, From Time Out to Hard Time, which examines the processing and consequences of youth in the adult criminal justice system. The report discusses current polices regarding treatment of youth offenders; the benefits of the juvenile justice system; and the consequences of treating youth in the adult system.

The authors highlight juvenile programs across the country that work well. The Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center is one of the programs highlighted. The report describes the Center as one that can provide the “resources of a private psychiatric facility, with the security and confinement of a juvenile prison.” A study of the Center’s effectiveness found that violent offenders treated there are “half as likely to commit new violent offenses” as violent offenders held in traditional juvenile facilities in the state. According to the report, this suggests that even violent youth are capable of rehabilitation.