A new study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, “No Place For Kids: The Case For Reducing Juvenile Incarceration” shows that placing juvenile offenders in correctional facilities is a “failed strategy for preventing youth crime”.
According to the study, wholesale incarceration of juvenile defenders does not reduce future offending by confined youth, does not enhance public safety, wastes taxpayer dollars, and exposes youth to violence and abuse.
There are about 60,500 youth, disproportionally of color, currently incarcerated on any given night. This is more teens than there are TOTAL in cities the sizes of Baltimore and Nashville.
For more information about youth in prison and for ways you can become an activist for this cause check out these awesome organizations, as well as the source of the study:
NYCLU’s School to Prison Pipeline Fact Sheet
Stop the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track
Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation
Photo: Same as above, courtesy of Richard Ross and Steve Liss
Hat tip: Colorlines