In this report, researchers explored community-based alternatives to youth incarceration.
This report presents findings and recommendations from an expert panel that explored challenges and opportunities associated with closing juvenile residential facilities and implementing community-based alternatives. Key findings were that disproportionate representation and disparate treatment of youth of color occur at every point in the legal process; the system is not structured to partner or engage with families as they support their justice-involved youth; some youth may still be held in secure facilities that will need to be designed and organized in a way to minimize additional trauma and harm; there are not enough individualized community-based solutions for youth charged with the most-serious offenses; and most affected communities are under-resourced and lack the financial and organizational capacity to serve youth and families with system involvement. Based on a one-day count, the number of youth held in juvenile justice facilities declined 77 percent between 2000 and 2020. Some of this sizable decrease can be attributed to the fact that youth arrests for violent crime decreased by 56 percent from 2010 to 2020, and youth arrests for all offenses declined by 74 percent during that same period. Other efforts to reduce the size of the juvenile justice system population include raising the minimum age at which a person can be processed through juvenile courts, implementing school-based strategies, and expanding juvenile diversion. As a result, the number of residential placement facilities has also decreased by 50 percent. This decrease is starkest among large facilities, which have decreased 74 percent from 1997 to 2019. Facility closure has gained attention and support for several reasons, such as investments in alternative rehabilitation and community-based programs, cost savings, and recognition of the need to treat youth involved in the juvenile justice system with a focus on rehabilitation rather than punitive measures.