Dallas Morning News — Juvenile Incarceration — Galsworthy Criminal Justice Reform Program

Juvenile Incarceration

Nationally, on any given night, approximately 81,000 youth are confined to juvenile facilities and 10,000 children are held in adult jails and prisons. Approximately 1 in 10 young male high school dropouts is incarcerated or in juvenile detention. For African Americans, that number is 1 in 4. Research shows that just over two million youth under the age of 18 were arrested in 2008. Of these two million, about 95 percent had not been accused of violent crimes. In 2010, of the nearly 100,000 youth under the age of 18 who were serving time in a juvenile residential placement facility, 26 percent had been convicted of property crimes only, such as burglary, arson, or theft. Access to education both stems the tide of incarceration and improves inmates chances of re-acclimating to society after their release.

Using outdated data to make decisions about juvenile offenders is unacceptable

"Sadly, the Texas Department of Juvenile Justice has been making policy decisions about juvenile offenders with inaccurate data for more than two years. That's because the department is using an outdated, faulty data system that was developed in-house more than 25 years ago. The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday that these problems have led to compromised decisions regarding treatment costs, staffing ratios, re-incarceration rates and health care costs, to name a few. This is unacceptable."

Dallas Morning News

August 17, 2018

Juvenile IncarcerationAnthony BradleyAugust 17, 2018Dallas Morning News, Texas

Juvenile Incarceration

Galsworthy CJR Program

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