NY comptroller’s report details Raise the Age law spending

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The office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli has issued a report on the cost of implementing the state Raise the Age (RTA) law.

The law, which was enacted in 2017, changed the age of criminal responsibility as an adult from 16 years old to 18 years old. The law was phased in over two years.

Most 16-year-old and 17-year-old offenders are now adjudicated in Family Court, rather than the adult criminal justice system, and they can no longer be detained in county jails with adults or in state prisons.

The state appropriated $1.71 billion through state fiscal year 2025 (April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025) to help counties implement the RTA.

So far, $658.8 million has been disbursed, according to the Comptroller’s report released Thursday.

New York’s counties implement the law locally and are reimbursed by the state for costs. The Comptroller’s analysis shows a recent uptick in spending, as county implementation progresses, according to the report.

Counties are reimbursed by the state for all new and ongoing costs associated with implementing RTA. To qualify for reimbursement, counties must adhere to the state property tax cap (or be granted a hardship waiver) and submit an annual work plan that identifies eligible costs to be reviewed by the state agencies.

New York City does not participate in the reimbursement program and was not included in the analysis.

As of state fiscal year 2025, state appropriations for RTA included $160 million for capital expenses and $1.55 billion in local aid.

Of the $160 million in capital appropriations, $48 million has been spent on projects to improve existing facilities or build new juvenile detention facilities.

Beginning in fiscal year 2019, the state provided a $100 million appropriation to make local aid available to counties for reimbursable RTA expenses, including alternative to incarceration programs, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and other supportive programming designed to rehabilitate youth convicted of crimes.

The aid to localities appropriation increased to $200 million in fiscal year 2020, and to $250 million in each of the subsequent fiscal years.

After the first two years, spending was comprised mostly of local grants to reimburse counties. Those funds totaled $468.5 million through fiscal year 2025.

The amounts counties have been approved to spend have been consistently below the level of annual appropriations.

Reimbursements to counties grew from $56.6 million in fiscal year 2019 to $158 million in fiscal year 2024. In fiscal year 2024, the $158 million in approved spending was 63% of the available $250 million appropriation.

Social Services costs, which include personnel costs for case workers, foster care, aftercare costs for youth placements, and other programming for rehabilitation and recidivism prevention costs, comprise the largest amount of spending in 44 counties.

Overall, detention costs are the largest category of spending, but expenditures are primarily concentrated in the six counties that operate a facility, including Westchester, Erie, Onondaga, Monroe, Nassau and Albany counties.

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