The Youthful Offender System is a detention facility for minors in Pueblo, Colorado. Young adults convicted of violent felonies can spend their jail term there. The unique program used at the jail focuses on rehabilitation, rather than punishment.

Compared to the normal adult prison system, far fewer people who pass through the Youthful Offender System commit another crime. However, the program is known to be very difficult to complete successfully.

In this article, our Pueblo Colorado criminal defense lawyers will address:

• 1. What is the Youthful Offender System in Colorado?
• 2. How is the program different from traditional jail?
• 3. Who is eligible for a sentence at the YOS?
• 4. How are YOS sentences different from normal convictions?

1. What is the Youthful Offender System in Colorado?

The Youthful Offender System, or YOS, is an alternative jail in the criminal justice system. It was created by the law CRS 18-1.3.407 in 1994. Young adults who have been convicted of violent felonies are eligible to be sentenced to YOS. It is located at 1300 West 13^th Street, Pueblo, Colorado.

The YOS has been referred to as both a medium-security prison and a maximum-security prison. It is officially listed as a Level III Security Facility.¹ The correctional facility has room for 256 people.

Inmates in the Youthful Offender System progress through a program with 4 phases:

• An intake, diagnostic, and orientation phase,
• Phase I: A highly structured schedule that includes educational and vocational classes,
• Phase II: The last 3 months of the YOS program has a relaxed structure that emphasizes independent living at the YOS facility, and
• Phase III: Inmates are released from the YOS facility for community supervision.²

Judges can send young people who have been convicted of eligible crimes to YOS, rather than to jail.

2. How is the program different from traditional jail?

Unlike a traditional jail, the Youthful Offender System focuses on rehabilitating inmates, rather than punishing them. The Youthful Offender System does this by isolating young inmates from the general state prison population. It also gives inmates opportunities to learn the skills with a daily regimen they need for reintegration into society.³

As required by statute,⁴ inmates in the YOS can take education and social classes, including:

• Adult basic education,
• Business classes,
• GED classes,
• Anger management,
• Sex offender treatment classes, and
• Other programs to help mental health and develop critical thinking and problem-solving.

The YOS program formerly allowed inmates to pursue high school credits. However, that educational component was phased out in September, 2017.⁵ Now, all YOS inmates pursue a GED, rather than a high school diploma.

There are also a handful of vocational classes offered at YOS. Some of these provide training for jobs in:

• Barbershops,
• Construction,
• Electrical work,
• Computer repair, and
• Auto repair.

In 2018, 84% of YOS inmates were released to community supervision with a

• GED,
• high school diploma, or
• vocational degree.⁶

The goal of helping inmates return to society is different from the goal of a traditional jail. Jails are more focused on punishing inmates by taking away their liberty. Few people are released from jail with the professional skills that are developed in YOS, and many ex-inmates still suffer from criminal thinking and pose a threat to public safety.

As a result, the recidivism rate for inmates released from YOS is lower than those released from jail:

3. Who is eligible for a sentence at the YOS?

Only young adults who have been convicted for violent felonies are eligible for YOS. Defendants facing a juvenile offense are not eligible for YOS.

Even if you are eligible for YOS, it is still within the judge’s discretion to send you there rather than to jail.

Young adults

To be eligible for the Youthful Offender System, you have to be:

• Between 14 and 17 years old at the time of your conviction and sentence, or
• 18 or 19 at the time of the offense and sentenced before your 21st birthday

Convictions for violent felonies

Only convictions for violent felonies, except Class 1 felonies, are eligible for YOS. Young adults convicted for a Class 2 felony are eligible for YOS, but can face up to a 7-year sentence, rather than a 6-year maximum.

Eligible offenses include:

• First-degree assault (CRS 18-3-202),
• Second-degree assault (CRS 18-3-203),
• Aggravated robbery (CRS 18-4-302),
• Second-degree murder (CRS 18-3-103), and
• Manslaughter (CRS 18-3-104).

4. How are YOS sentences different from normal convictions?

Sentences to the Youthful Offender System are different from normal convictions in 4 ways:

1. The jail term for the conviction is suspended,
2. The sentence to YOS is often a fraction of the length of the suspended sentence,
3. YOS sentences are determinate and not reduced by time already served, and
4. Unlike juvenile convictions, a conviction leading to YOS stays on your criminal background.

YOS begins with a suspended jail sentence

Criminal defendants enter the Youthful Offender System after being convicted of a crime. If the judge determines the defendant would benefit from YOS rather than jail, they can suspend the jail sentence.⁹

A suspended jail sentence only has to be served if certain conditions are not met. The judge can require a defendant to complete the YOS program.

The suspended jail sentence will be vacated if you complete the Youthful Offender System. You will not have to serve jail time.

However, if you fail to complete YOS, you will have to serve the sentence that was suspended.

In this way, YOS is similar to a diversion program. However, passing the Youthful Offender System is difficult. Only 78.6% of inmates complete the program.¹⁰

YOS sentences are shorter than a normal jail sentence

A criminal conviction carries jail time according to the class of crime. YOS sentences, though, are between 2 and 7 years.

For example, a jail sentence for a Class 3 felony in Colorado is between 4 and 12 years. If the judge suspends the sentence and sends you to YOS, the maximum sentence is only 7 years.

The inmates in the Youthful Offender System have all been convicted for violent felonies. These convictions often carry long jail sentences. Many terms in the Youthful Offender System are less than half as long as the suspended sentence.

YOS sentences are determinate

Judges sentence defendants to determinate times in the Youthful Offender System. The time period the judge issues cannot be changed after the fact. This means:

• There is no early release from YOS,
• YOS inmates cannot get parole, and
• Inmates in YOS do not get credit for time already served in jail before their conviction.

YOS sentences stay on your criminal history

Defendants who go through the Youthful Offender System are adults. People facing juvenile offenses cannot go through YOS. YOS offenders cannot have their records sealed after the sentence. Once they complete the Youthful Offender System, the felony will still be on their record.

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