Using Bills and Budgets to Further Reduce Youth Incarceration

• NCJ Number: 246497
• Author(s): Antoinette Davis; Angela Irvine; Jason Ziedenberg
• Date Published: March 2014
• Length: 13 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Public Welfare Foundation
• Corporate Author: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Sale Source: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report examines the rate of youth in confinement between 2001 and 2011.

Abstract

Results show that the rate of youth in confinement dropped 41 percent between 2001 and 2011. Since 2001, 48 States have experienced such a decline. States across the country have seen huge reductions in the number of youth incarcerated in detention halls, camps, and state secure facilities. One major reason for the reductions is successful legislation developed by advocates and legislators on both sides of the aisle. This publication, part of an eight-part series of information sheets and reports regarding the study of youth deincarceration trends, details many of these legislative successes while also exploring reform challenges. Despite the overall reduction in incarceration rates among youth, much higher percentages of youth of color remain under formal supervision and in State secure facilities; youth of color have jumped from 68 percent to 81 percent of all youth sentenced in juvenile court.