Closing Reform Schools in Massachesetts

We honor the transformative life of Dr. Jerome G. Miller (1931 – 2015), whose leadership in Massachusetts helped spark a nationwide revolution in juvenile justice. As CJCJ’s founder, Dr. Miller’s legacy continues to inspire advocates working to replace punishment with purpose and confinement with care. Dr. Jerome G. Miller’s leadership first transformed Massachusetts’ approach to youth justice and then reshaped national juvenile policy. His actions proved that compassion and community could succeed where confinement had failed.

Dr. Miller’s work demonstrated three historic truths:

• Large congregate training schools were obsolete and could be safely closed.
• Community-based, non-institutional interventions could effectively replace institutional confinement.
• Closing entrenched institutions required extraordinary political resolve and the courage to challenge deep-seated bureaucratic resistance.

These lessons reverberated far beyond Massachusetts, demonstrating that an alternative, humane system could work at scale and inspiring reforms in states across the nation.

After his groundbreaking tenure in Massachusetts, Dr. Miller continued his lifelong advocacy by founding CJCJ in San Francisco and co-founding the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA). Both organizations carry forward his mission to advance humane, evidence-based alternatives to incarceration.

Dr. Miller’s legacy continues to inspire advocates working to replace punishment with purpose and confinement with care.

The Birth of Reform

The closure of the Massachusetts training schools in the early 1970s stands as one of the most transformative events in American juvenile justice history.

Massachusetts had long been a pioneer in youth corrections. In 1847, the state opened the Lyman School for Boys in Westborough, the nation’s first state-sponsored reform school. Seven years later, in 1854, the Lancaster Industrial School for Girls became the first public training school for girls.

Before these innovations, juveniles were confined in adult jails and prisons, where conditions were harsh and rehabilitation was nonexistent. Over the next century, three additional state institutions were built, forming a network that would come to symbolize both the idealism and the failings of institutional reform.

The Crisis of the 1960s

By the mid-1960s, reports began exposing the inhumane and degrading conditions within these institutions. Allegations of abuse, neglect, and prolonged isolation drew public scrutiny and professional condemnation.

In 1969, Dr. John D. Coughlin, chairman of the Youth Services Board and director of the newly formed Department of Youth Services (DYS), resigned after years of defending the traditional institutional model.

That same year, Governor Francis Sargent made a bold and historic appointment: Dr. Jerome G. Miller was named director of DYS. His appointment signaled a new era of reform and compassion for court-involved youth.

Dr. Jerome Miller’s Vision

Dr. Miller entered office with a clear and radical vision: to replace punishment with rehabilitation, and to create humane, therapeutic environments where young people could heal and grow.

He envisioned small, community-based programs where staff would engage youth with empathy, not fear. To achieve this, he had to confront a deeply entrenched institutional culture, which relied for decades on beatings, food deprivation, and solitary confinement as methods of control.

Miller quickly banned corporal punishment, isolation cells, and strip searches. Yet during unannounced inspections, he discovered that many staff continued these practices despite his orders. Given this resistance, Dr. Miller realized that reform from within the system was nearly impossible.

At the time, the average stay for youth in custody was roughly eight months, an arbitrary figure disconnected from any measure of rehabilitation. By revising parole eligibility to allow release after three months, Miller began reducing the institutional population. This policy forced the state to reimagine youth services outside of the walls.

Closing Every Training School

In January 1972, Dr. Miller led a convoy of cars to the Lyman School for Boys. In an unforgettable act of reform, he informed the superintendent that the youths were being removed immediately. Each child was driven to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where they stayed temporarily until suitable community placements could be arranged.

Within weeks, 90 boys and girls from Lyman, Lancaster, and other institutions had been relocated, with university students serving as advocates to help secure placements.

Over the following year, the remaining state institutions were emptied and permanently closed. Many were demolished, sold, or repurposed to ensure they would never reopen. It was the most sweeping act of juvenile justice reform in modern history.

Deinstitutionalization Begins

In January 1972, Dr. Miller led a convoy of cars to the Lyman School for Boys. In an unforgettable act of reform, he informed the superintendent that the youths were being removed immediately. The group drove the youth to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where they stayed temporarily until suitable community placements could be arranged.

Within weeks, 90 boys and girls from Lyman, Lancaster, and other institutions had been relocated, with university students serving as advocates to help secure placements.

Over the following year, the remaining state institutions were emptied and permanently closed. Many were demolished, sold, or repurposed to ensure they would never reopen. This was the most transformative juvenile justice reform in modern history.

Building a New System

The closures compelled Massachusetts to build a new, decentralized, community-based system from the ground up.

The Department of Youth Services established seven regional offices, each responsible for local coordination with courts, probation, and families. Private nonprofit agencies primarily delivered services through a continuum of care tailored to each youth’s needs. This included residential programs, education, mental health counseling, and family engagement.

Though some programs faltered, the overall model transformed young people’s lives. The community-based approach produced better outcomes, lower recidivism, and greater dignity for the young people it served.

Massachusetts became the national model for modern juvenile justice, inspiring reforms across the country.

For a firsthand account of the Massachusetts experiment, see Dr. Miller’s memoir, Last One Over the Wall: The Massachusetts Experiment in Closing Reform Schools (Ohio State University Press, 1991).

Further Reading and Sources

Bakal, Yitzhak (ed.). Closing Correctional Institutions: New Strategies for Youth Services. Lexington Books, 1973.

Coates, Robert B., Alden D. Miller, and Lloyd E. Ohlin. Diversity in a Youth Correctional System: Handling Delinquents in Massachusetts. Ballinger Publishing, 1978.

Macallair, Daniel. ​“The Closing of the Massachusetts Reform Schools and the Legacy of Jerome Miller.” Youth Today, December 2011.

Miller, Jerome G. Last One Over the Wall: The Massachusetts Experiment in Closing Reform Schools. Ohio State University Press, 1991.