The goal of the 150 Years is Enough Campaign is to transform New Jersey’s youth incarceration system into a community-based system of care by closing two youth prisons—the New Jersey Training School for Boys (Jamesburg) and the Female Secure Care and Intake Facility (Hayes)—and investing in community-based programs. 

As it stands, New Jersey’s current youth incarceration system is a failed experiment—morally, financially, socially, and from a rehabilitation and public safety perspective. Indeed, even though Black and white kidscommit most offenses at similar rates, as of January 1, 2017, two-thirds of kids in New Jersey’s youth prisons are Black (148) and only 113 are white. And to achieve these racially discriminatory results, New Jersey spends over $200,000 to incarcerate each child for one year in a New Jersey youth prison.