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| To the extent that youth in the juvenile justice system cannot pay their fines or fees, the brunt of those costs could be burdened by their families. Our results showed that there are certain dollar thresholds where the amount of costs and/or restitution imposed may be considered excessive at least when considering the ability of the youth to pay. For example, most youth who were not eligible for employment based on their age (12-13) could pay the full amount of restitution imposed upon case closing when it was $300 or less, but only half in this age group could pay all of their debt when the amount was greater than $300. |
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| We hope that our findings will be used to reconsider how costs are imposed on youth in the juvenile justice system. As well, perhaps the system should reconsider the structure and/or process by which it levies and collects assorted costs that are imposed on juveniles who commit crimes. It is important that our research is replicated in other jurisdictions as well as replicated across ethnicity, i.e., Hispanics, in order to better assess the generalizability of our results. |
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