Juvenile Detention

Juvenile detention is a crucial early phase in the juvenile justice process, the point at which the courts decide whether to confine a young person pending their court hearing or while awaiting placement into a correctional or treatment facility rather than allowing the young person to remain at home or perhaps in an alternative supervision program. Every year, an estimated 195,000 young people are admitted to detention facilities nationwide, and approximately 15,600 are held in detention on any given night.

Placement into a locked detention center pending court significantly increases the odds that youth will be found delinquent and committed to corrections facilities and can seriously damage their prospects for future success.

Yet many detained youth pose little or no threat to public safety.

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Juvenile Detention Explained

How many children are in detention centers in the United States? What is the long-term impact of juvenile detention? This resource from the Casey Foundation has the answers.

November 13, 2020

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Kids Deserve Better: Why Juvenile Detention Reform Matters

Detention is a pivotal decision point in the juvenile justice process. Even a short turn in confinement can have an outsized influence on court outcomes, and it can also mean profound and potentially lifelong negative consequences for the young people involved, according to research.

December 5, 2018

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