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For example, one of the coalitionâs goals is to establish a minimum age at which a child can be charged with a criminal offense. Last year, the youngest child charged with an offense was 8 years old, said Cortney Downs, a policy and advocacy director for Kentucky Youth Advocates.
The coalition is advocating legislators to establish a minimum age of 12 years for a juvenile to be charged with a crime. That change would impact how Blacks juveniles are treated because they are disproportionately charged with crimes compared to white children. KYA statistics in Jefferson County, for example, found that Blacks make up 68% of criminal charges filed against juveniles under age 13, although Blacks make up only 29% of the countyâs juvenile population of that age group.