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.
“Without leaders committed to helping heal incarcerated, traumatized youths and implement rehabilitative methods to improve the system, the problems will only continue to worsen and conditions will become increasingly dangerous. “
LA Times
May 28, 2019
Read More“In Sylmar, the conditions were so alarming that Gardner penned a three-page letter to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. In it, he described the officer-turned-whistleblower’s concerns about staff working to a “breaking point” because of officers calling in sick and the intense conditions requiring forced overtime among those who did report to work. “
LA Times
May 19, 2019
Read More“Before 2009, L.A. County’s Probation Department regularly charged parents and guardians of juvenile delinquents fees for some of the costs associated with their child’s detention. At the time, the fee was $23.63 a day for juvenile halls and $11.94 a day for probation camps. Collection efforts included intercepting state tax refunds, putting liens on property and, in some cases, garnishing wages.“
LA Times
October 9, 2018
Read More