Why Vermont Raised Its Juvenile Court Age Above 18 — And Why Massachusetts Might, Too

As Massachusetts considers changing the way it handles young criminal offenders, it is looking at what’s happening north — specifically, to Vermont.

Vermont is the first state to raise the age above 18 for when someone criminally charged goes to juvenile court, expanding what it’s doing in hundreds of lower level criminal cases now.

For example, this summer, in a small office in a nondescript government building in Burlington, Vermont, a seemingly routine meeting was taking place between a 21-year-old man and his probation officer.

“We meet once a month and talk about my life and how I can put my path in the right direction,” the man said.

Read the rest of the story at WBUR’s website.