Adult jails are no place for children. Come learn more about this challenge.

Adult jails are no place for our youth. Florida has been a leader in transferring youth offenders to the adult criminal justice system dating back to the 1980s.

During that time, juvenile crime was rapidly increasing, and law officials’ and legislators’ answer to the problem was to transfer juveniles with multiple felonies to the adult courts.

In some of these cases, the youth did not commit heinous or violent crimes, but economic crimes. According to research conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), since 2009 more than 14,000 children, some as young as 10 years old, have been prosecuted as adults in Florida.

Although the number of transferred youth has fallen in recent years, a disproportionate number of transferred black youths remains high.

I do not condone criminal behavior of any kind — no matter the reason. I especially do not support violent or heinous criminal activity, however, adult jails are no place for our children.

Juvenile Transfer Reform is a movement that seeks to address this issue. This movement is led in Florida by The No Place for Our Child Coalition, which includes agencies such as the SPLC and The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Supporters believe that all youth should be seen by a judge, who should make a ruling based on his assessment of the youth’s history, level of maturity, ability to assess the risk, the consequences associated with their actions, and the history of treatment the youth received to address behavioral and mental health concerns.

The No Place for Our Child Coalition will host an in-person training and informational session for all who are interested in learning more about this subject, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. at Miami Dade Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave., Room 2016. The No Place for Our Child Coalition will be host an in-person training and informational session.