During William H. Carbone’s 40-year career in the Connecticut justice system, he worked hard to improve the way young people were treated.
Now Mr. Carbone, who is 64, will lend his expertise in juvenile justice to the University of New Haven as director of the new Tow Institute for Youth Justice at the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences.
“Connecticut has been at the forefront of juvenile-justice reform, and this is really a wonderful way to keep building on those reforms,” Mr. Carbone says.
According to a 2013 report from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the state decreased its juvenile commitment rates by 79 percent between 1997 and 2011. That was the largest decline in the country, achieved in spite of Connecticut’s move in 2007 to raise the age of criminal prosecution as an adult from 16 to 18, a change that made more teenagers eligible for processing as juveniles.
The mission of the Tow Institute for Youth Justice is twofold: to develop a model curriculum for training students for careers in juvenile justice and to generate policy research to bolster the state’s progress in juvenile-justice reform. The institute will draw on the university’s psychology, sociology, health-care, and economics departments in addition to the college of criminal justice, says Mr. Carbone.
The institute will study recidivism, sentencing, alternatives to incarceration, and the outcomes of community interventions. Research priorities, Mr. Carbone says, also include minority overrepresentation in the penal system, alternative high-school programs, and diversion programs that keep minor cases from being prosecuted. Jeanne Milstein, who retired in 2012 as Connecticut’s child advocate, will serve as a staff researcher.
The focus will be much more on prevention and early intervention than on punishment, says Mario T. Gaboury, dean of the college of criminal justice. The institute is supported by the Tow Foundation, which advocates for juvenile justice and the welfare of children; the university; and the state of Connecticut, for which it will do research and provide staffing for a newly created committee on juvenile-justice policy and oversight.
“It’s going to be not only a nice exercise from an academic standpoint,” Mr. Gaboury says. “We’re going to really have an effect on policy and really have an effect on children whose lives and families are affected by the system.”
Auspicious timing aided the institute’s founding. The Tow Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, just as Mr. Carbone was considering leaving government service, prompting Mr. Gaboury to seek both money and a leader for the research center he envisioned.
“I jumped at the opportunity to recruit him here because I knew he could help us establish this institute,” Mr. Gaboury says. “Bill is the perfect bridge between theory and practice. He’s that unique individual who understands empirical research and understands how to apply that in the field.”
In addition to working as executive director of Connecticut’s Court Support Services Division, as director of the state’s Office of Alternative Sanctions, and in other state administrative positions, Mr. Carbone has taught at the University of New Haven as an adjunct for nearly two decades. In January, he became a full-time lecturer and director of experiential education in its college of criminal justice.
“When we’re dealing with children, they’re very adaptable to change, very adaptable to springing back from trauma and issues that may give rise to delinquency,” Mr. Carbone says. “We can give them the opportunity to have productive lives.”
