The Cradle to Prison Pipeline

Criminal Justice Reform Briefing

The State House | Room 437

September 30, 2025 | 11:00AM

The legislature’s Criminal Justice Reform Caucus is hosting a briefing on the “Cradle to Prison Pipeline”. 

This briefing will feature a discussion of feeder systems that drive vulnerable youth into the juvenile and criminal justice systems and approaches to dismantle those pipelines, prevent legal system involvement and improve both youth outcomes and public safety. 

Citizens for Juvenile Justice, Enlace De Familias Family Resource Center, Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, and More Than Words will present on "feeder systems" that are designed to support youth but also funnel youth into the justice systems. The briefing will also highlight legislation to restrict those pipelines by reducing systemic risk factors in the child welfare, education and the juvenile justice systems.

Briefing Program
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Bills to disrupt the cradle to prison pipeline

  • An Act establishing a bill of rights for children in foster care(Rep. Finn H.235/Sen. comerford S.107) – FACT SHEET

    Codify into state law fundamental rights for children and youth in foster care: trauma-informed care; preserve a child’s connection to their culture, language and traditions; respect of a child’s dignity and autonomy; protect their gender identity and disability rights; and provide resources and support for youth aging out of foster care.

  • An Act Regarding Families and Children in Need of Assistance - (Rep. Mendes H.265/ Sen. R.Kennedy S.141) – FACT SHEET

    Ensure that families desperate for services first have the opportunity to connect to services at the community level and that court referrals are used only as a last resort.

  • An Act promoting diversion of juveniles to community supervision and services (Rep. Fluker-Reid H.1695|H.4515/ Sen. Creem S.1051) – Fact Sheet

    Expanding judicial diversion allows for a neutral party to decide if a youth and public safety are better served through alternatives to the juvenile justice system.

Bills to address the intersection of child welfare, education and juvenile court involvement

  • An Act to remedy disparities in students’ educational achievement (Reps. Ultrino & Meschino H.730/ Sen. Jehlen S.376) – Fact Sheet

Preserves a child’s right to education by raising the threshold that students facing court charges (prior to arraignment or adjudication) be subject to school suspension or expulsion from school by requiring the felony charge be a “serious violent felony” excluding low-level felony offenses.

  • An Act Establishing Compliance with Federal Education Reporting Requirements for Out-of-Home Placement Students (Sen. Moore S.2585) – Fact Sheet

    DCF-involved students in out-of-home placement have significantly worse educational experiences and outcomes than their peers. This bill establishes real-time data sharing between DCF and DESE to address gaps in schools knowledge of foster children in in their student body to effectively meet that child’s unique needs or implement their learning plans.

  • An Act to establish miranda rights for families under investigation by the department of children and families (Sen. DiDomenico S.114) – Fact Sheet

    Parents’ rights have been violated and families in Massachusetts have been torn apart – often not because of abuse or neglect but because parents were unaware of their rights, lacked resources, or faced unjust systemic barriers. Passing this bill would require DCF to provide basic information about the allegations, the investigative process and their rights during the investigation.