The recidivism rate for youth in the juvenile justice system is nearly 55% at 12 months post-release, according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. In many states, up to 80 % of the youth who are incarcerated are rearrested within 3 years of release.

Juvenile Justice by the data

Youth who are involved in the juvenile justice system are more likely to have experienced trauma than other youth. This trauma can include community violence, domestic violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and traumatic loss. Some youth may develop PTSD, or other complications such as emotional, behavioral, and cognitive issues.

  • 195,000 Youth

    Nation­al­ly 195,000 young peo­ple were placed in deten­tion cen­ters in 2018. The aver­age stay is 27 days, but even a short stay in juve­nile deten­tion can throw a youth off course.

  • 625

    There are 625 facil­i­ties that clas­si­fy them­selves as juve­nile deten­tion cen­ters across the Unit­ed States.

  • 33 %

    A stay in pre­tri­al juve­nile deten­tion increas­es a young per­son­’s like­li­hood of felony recidi­vism by 33% and mis­de­meanor recidi­vism by 11%.

Resources:

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, JUVENILE DETENTION EXPLAINED blog

https://www.aecf.org/blog/what-is-juvenile-detention