Elizabeth Barnert, MD, MPH, and Melissa Goemann, JD
In the United States, there is no nationally mandated minimum age for arresting and prosecuting children. In fact, many states do not have minimum age laws. Arresting and prosecuting young children is not only inappropriate but deeply traumatizing and can leave lasting scars. It is well past time for every state in the country to join the international community in establishing a reasonable minimum age for arrest and prosecution of children.
Kaia's Story
Before Kaia Rolle, then 6 years old, was arrested in Florida for throwing a temper tantrum, she was a vibrant child who loved to dance. After the police forcibly removed her from school in zip ties, while she desperately screamed, “Help me! Help me!” her personality changed. Her grandmother reported two years later that Kaia was suffering from extreme post-traumatic stress disorder and separation anxiety and rarely smiled anymore.
Unfortunately, Kaia isn’t alone. Hundreds of young children across the United States are arrested each year. A 2023 longitudinal study published in Academic Pediatrics found that of the nearly 700,000 minors prosecuted annually, approximately 3.6% are under 12 years old and nearly one in five is under 14.
Negative Consequences
The negative consequences of arresting youth go beyond emotional damage:
Physical harm: While all children in confinement risk physical harm, younger children are at heightened risk of victimization compared to older youth. A study from the National Juvenile Justice Network found that more than one in four confined children under the age of 13 were victims of violence, compared to one in 11 20-year-olds.
Long-term negative effects on health: Researchers led by Elizabeth Barnert found an association between early incarceration (under 14 years old) and worse physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood compared to those first incarcerated at later adolescent and young adult ages.
Harm to public safety: According to the National Juvenile Justice Network, early contact with the system has been found to harm public safety; the likelihood that these children will commit future offenses increases inversely with the age of first justice system contact. These children are also more likely to become chronically involved with the criminal legal system.
Collateral consequences: Juvenile justice system involvement creates a permanent record for a child. While some states try to shield those records, it can be difficult to accomplish and often does not apply to all records. Criminal legal system involvement can result in lasting harm to a child by creating barriers to education, employment, housing, and public benefits.
Finally, the arrest of young children disproportionately affects certain groups of children. A CBS News analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found that of young children arrested, Black school children in grades 5 and below were five times more likely to be arrested at school than their white counterparts. Additionally, children with documented disabilities, such as ADHD and autism, were found to be four times more likely to be arrested at school.
Minimum Age Laws
Some progress is being made, but more needs to be done. Twenty-eight states now have a minimum age for prosecution, but many of those mandated ages are very young. In Florida, the minimum age is only 7 years old, and in Arizona and Washington state it is 8 years old.
Most states with a minimum have set it at 10 years old (Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin). Maine and Nebraska have a minimum age of 11 years old. Seven states now have a minimum age of 12 years old (California, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, and Vermont) and three have a minimum of 13 years old (Maryland, Minnesota, and New Hampshire). In the meantime, 22 states have yet to establish a minimum age.
The practice of arresting and prosecuting young children makes the United States an outlier throughout the world. The most common minimum age of criminal responsibility is 14 years old, and the United Nations has urged nations to set their minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years old at the youngest.
What can you do?
We urge those in states with no – or very low – minimum ages to advocate for vital human rights legislation that protect young children from being arrested and prosecuted in the juvenile court. Where there is not yet the political will to enact such laws, advocating for legislation to establish minimum ages of confinement, meaning an age below which children are deemed to young to be locked up in a juvenile detention or confinement facility, is helpful as well.
Until we end childhood incarceration, it is essential to remember that children in custody have likely been traumatized and may have special medical and mental health needs. They need to be treated in a developmentally appropriate way, assessed for medical and therapeutic needs, and provided with appropriate interventions to address those issues and to keep them safe.
Additionally, it is important to remember that Black children are often viewed as older than their age, creating inappropriate expectations. Finally, the behavior of children who are disabled may be misunderstood as intentionality rather than a result of their challenges. It is important to assess children for disabilities, as not all types of disability are easily recognizable.
Finally, whether in custody settings or in the community, it is critical to recognize that any young child who comes to the attention of law enforcement is likely a child needing support. Offering support in community settings, through education, health, and sometimes through the child welfare system, may do more to enhance public safety and set the child on a healing path. But if the child is detained and under your care, please recognize the significant trauma the child is likely experiencing, the harmful conditions that might have led to their incarceration, and the supports needed. Addressing those issues will encourage children to grow positively so that they can have their next birthdays with their classmates and family, in the community, growing into healthy adolescents and healthy, productive adults.
Elizabeth Barnert, MD, MPH, is associate professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and chair of NCCHC’s Juvenile Health Committee.
Melissa Goemann, JD, is a social justice advocacy consultant with Next Generation Justice Consulting.
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of CorrectCare magazine.
