Endowments; Reformatories; Juvenile corrections; Jamesburg (N.J.); State Home for Boys (Jamesburg, N.J.)
Format
correspondence
Genre
Business correspondence
Date
[between 1886 and 1919?]
Physical Description
microfilm, 16 mm, b&w
Note (Reel no.)
Reel 81
Note
PDF may contain multiple grant documents.
MONROE - The state has approved funding to close the New Jersey Training School for Boys here, which is known as Jamesburg, and the Female Secure Care and Intake Facility in Bordentown, known as Hayes. Gov. Chris Christie announced the reform of New J ersey's juvenile justice system Monday with a $162 million bond to finance the closure of the two Civil War-era youth prisons... 'The New Jersey Training School at Jamesburg is one of the oldest, most antiquated youth prisons in the nation and the time has come to close its gates for the last time,' Christie said in the news release. 'We have an obligation to serve our youth and protect our communities, but now we will do so using a model that maximizes opportunities for personal rehabilitation and growth of developing young people.' Last June, hundreds of people rallied outside the ornate iron gates of the New Jersey Training Schools for Boys and called for the facility, which has been in existence for 150 years, to be closed... Built in 1867 to house thousands of young people, and comprising 68 buildings sprawled over 900 acres, the facility is no longer effective or sustainable. It houses about 144 youths. Incarcerating this small number of youths on an aging and largely empty campus is inefficient, impractical and expensive, according to the governor's release. The facility is in a remote location, with little, if any, access to public transportation, making it difficult for families to visit, limiting the critical role families can play in the care and rehabilitation of the youths. It costs more than $300,000 to house each youth at the training school for a year. Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino has contrasted the cost to more than four years at Harvard, including room and board, with enough cash left over to purchase a luxury car as a graduation gift." [SOURCE: "State to close NJ Training School for Boys in Monroe." MyCentralJersey.com, 8 Jan. 2018, https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/education/in-our-schools/2018/01/08/state-close-nj-training-school-boys-monroe/1014359001. Accessed 5 Oct. 2018.]