The Wayward Minor Laws, passed in New York in 1944 and 1945, stipulated that anyone aged sixteen to twenty-one who associated with “dissolute persons,” who was “disobedient to the reasonable and lawful commands of parents,” or who “desert[ed] his or her home” fell within the province of the Wayward Minor Court. The law covered males and females, but wayward girls were treated differently than wayward boys.
