WASHINGTON DC – “Youth Justice By the Numbers,” a new report released Thursday by The Sentencing Project, finds a 75 percent decline in youth held in juvenile facilities – 108,800 to 27,600 between 2000 and 2022.
The Sentencing Project is charging public opinion wrongly assumes that crime is increasing and youth offending is consistently violent, whereas most youth offenses are low-level and nonviolent.
While significant declines in youth offending, arrests, and incarceration have been observed in the 21st century, The Sentencing Project’s report found youth of color are still more likely to be held in juvenile facilities than white youth.
In 2021, data from the report show that in comparison to white youth, Black youth were 4.7 times as likely to be incarcerated, Tribal youth were 3.7 times as likely, and Latino youth were 16 percent as likely.
White youth are more likely to be diverted from formal court processes or receive probation and informal sanctions when convicted, but Black youth are more likely to be incarcerated, according to The Sentencing Project.
Overall, The Sentencing Project’s report finds the arrest rate for minors has declined 80 percent through 2020 since its peak in 1996.
However, juvenile placement rates range greatly between states; the highest being in Wyoming with 269 out of 100,000 youth, and the lowest in Vermont with 0 out of 100,000 as outlined by The Sentencing Project.
Between 1997 and 2022, The Sentencing Project found an 84 percent drop in youth held in adult prisons and jails.
The Sentencing Project’s report concludes by stating there are far more effective alternatives to incarceration that achieve lower recidivism and more positive outcomes, but with the current youth justice system, the U.S. must address the racial and ethnic disparities that persist.
