“There has been a steady refrain from those who have testified before us…that there has to be a better way.” That was a quote from Representative John Tilley, co-chair of the Unified Juvenile Code Task Force, in the Sunday Courier-Journal story on Kentucky’s use of incarceration of children for things such as skipping school and running away from home.

The story highlights the progress made on this issue (the trend line is going in the right direction), provides examples of how county officials are taking local action to better serve children (kudos to the interviewed Judges from Daviess, Henderson and Kenton Counties), and discusses statewide reforms under consideration by the Task Force (changing state law to eliminate the practice).

To view the steady decline from 2007 to 2012 on the statewide number of incarcerations for these things like skipping school or running away from home (called status offenses) check out the graph on the right which also appeared in the story. Click here to see the data for your county and create your own charts using tools on the KIDS COUNT Data Center.

There was also an Editorial in the Courier Journal about this issue as well. Click here to read it.

Photo Credit: Courier Journal