September 12th, 2025 by WCBC Radio

West Virginia has about 400 youth confined at any given time, vastly out of step with states with similar population sizes, according to a new report by the Prison Policy Initiative.  Wanda Bertram with the initiative explains these numbers are up because kids across the state are locked up for status offenses, such as underage drinking…

   

“Behavioral violations that are not law violations for adults, things like running away, truancy from school, incorrigibility, which means repeatedly disobeying your parents—again, not crimes.  Confinement is both traumatizing for kids and extremely disruptive to things like education.”