Juvenile Sentencing: Two policeman holding Black male teen between them walt around whote police car in a grassy park

Minorities are less likely than whites to bypass courts for community-based rehabilitation, new analysis finds

Citing, among others, the case of a Black boy who first was incarcerated, at 14, for stealing candy and, at 16, died at a restrictive wilderness camp where he was sent for violating curfew and other parole violations, this new report from The Sentencing Project suggests that U.S. courts divert comparatively fewer minority youth into community-based service or other rehabilitation. And diversion, overall, is sought less often than it should be.

California Study: black youth injured during police encounters at greater rates than others: police officer holding nightstick against neck of Black youth during arrest

California Study: Blacks were 19% of youth injured during police encounters; their injury risks were as much as 6.7 times higher than that of whites

A University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health analyzed 13 years’ worth of hospital records for almost 16,000 patients aged 19 and younger, starting roughly in 2013. Black girls in those reports were injured more often than any group other than Black boys. Whites had the lowest injury rates among all races of youth, according to the analysis, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s JAMA Pediatrics.

TAG: Collaborative process of multicultural skilled students during brainstorming meeting in office. Diverse team of young people dressed in formal wear cooperating.

Alameda County Probation Department Succeeds in Reducing Both Out-of-Home Placements, Racial Disparities

There is important new evidence that reducing out-of-home placements — while also reducing disparities for racial and ethnic minorities — is an achievable goal for the juvenile justice system. The removal of minors from their home, ostensibly for their rehabilitation, often results in additional difficulties in their schooling, future employment and overall well-being — especially if the placements exceed six months. When a youth is placed out of home, it can also be disruptive and detrimental to the entire family.

Are Youth of Color Benefiting From Juvenile Justice Reform?

Within the scope of juvenile justice literature, studies highlight the need for both immediate and long-term reform measures. This is clearly pertinent given the existence of racial disparity in terms of treatment and confinement among youth in the United States. In fact, federal and state-level funding has been provided to address this dilemma during the past 10 to 15 years.