Via the Council of State Governments
November 10, 2015
By the CSG Justice Center Staff
AUSTIN, TX—On the heels of new data showing massive reductions in the number of youth incarcerated, legislators, judges, juvenile justice administrators and other representatives from all 50 states met to tackle the next big challenge: making sure supervision and services provided in the correctional facilities and in the community reduce the likelihood youth will be rearrested and end up in the adult criminal justice system.
“The recently released figures describing the plunging decline in incarcerated youth are stunning: Nearly every state in the U.S. has reduced by more than half the number of youth in correctional facilities. We’ve achieved those declines while juvenile arrests are hitting historic lows,” said Michael Lawlor, undersecretary of Criminal Policy and Planning for the state of Connecticut, which has seen the largest percentage reduction of all states. “That’s an accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated.”
According to new numbers from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), states’ juvenile incarceration rates have plummeted by 55 percent overall from 1997 to 2013. But there’s been less progress ensuring youth released from facilities or under community supervision succeed by staying crime free, achieving academically and getting jobs. Rearrest rates have commonly reached as high as 80 percent within three years of release from a facility, and rates for youth on community supervision are often not much better.
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