skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

JD Vance calls for toning down political rhetoric, while calls for his resignation grow because of his own comments. The Secret Service again faces intense criticism, and a right to IVF is again voted down in the US Senate.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Report: Youths of Color 50% More Likely to Face Juvenile Incarceration

play audio
Play

Tuesday, March 22, 2022   

Almost a quarter-million American children were incarcerated in 2019, according to a new report called "Too Many Closed Doors" from the Sentencing Project, about five times more than the annual point-in-time counts reveal.

Josh Rovner, senior advocacy associate for The Sentencing Project and the report's author, said we have been looking at the wrong numbers.

"As of one day in 2019, there were about 36,000 kids who were in youth facilities," Rovner reported. "The actual number of kids who were in the facilities over the course of the year was closer to 240,000. And that is actually an undercount."

The report found juveniles are overwhelmingly being detained for low-level offenses and the disruption to their schooling and home life actually makes them more likely to be rearrested in the future.

In addition, the detention rates are much higher in poverty-stricken communities of color, where there is more police presence.

Andrew Keats, staff attorney for the Juvenile Law Center, has studied the impact of crippling fees on children caught in the system in Florida.

He said the fees drives the youths and their families deeper into poverty.

"The fact that they are being disproportionately pulled into the system is having an economic impact," Keats asserted. "And then on the incarceration front, it is having an increased impact of trauma."

The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice tracks the racial ethnic disparity on its website. It showed 57% of youths in secure detention are Black, compared with 26.3 % white and 15.6 % Hispanic.

Rovner pointed out the disparities trended across the nation.

"Overall, 1 out of every 4 kids who are sent to court are detained at the outset," Rovner outlined. "For white youths, that is 1 out of every 5. For Black and Latino youths, closer to 30%. And that is not connected to the seriousness of the offense."

The report includes policy recommendations to reduce youth confinement, such as eliminating the detention of young children and those with low-level offenses, Keats also recommended increasing the use of diversion programs instead of detention and incarceration.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Including the $236 million in federal funding for wildland fire management recently announced for 2025, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has invested a total of $1 billion to the cause, according to the Department of the Interior. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

This month, the federal government announced funding for next year's wildfire management, totaling $236 million and experts hope threatened …


Social Issues

play sound

From gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson to Superintendent of Public Instruction hopeful Michele Morrow, some Republicans running for office have …

Social Issues

play sound

California is home to more than 181,000 people who are unhoused, with 75,000 in Los Angeles alone, so the Los Angeles Food Policy Council will host a …


The California Department of Conservation is holding a public meeting online on Sept. 24, to update the public on its progress in plugging abandoned oil wells. (Alizada Studios/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Groups concerned about pollution and climate change are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a trio of bills dubbed the "make polluters pay" package…

Social Issues

play sound

This week, National Voter Registration Day was another timely reminder for Ohioans preparing for the 2024 general election. The latest reports from …

The American Heart Association said caregivers often experience personal and spiritual growth, discovering their own resilience, competence and capacity for sacrifice as they help a friend or loved one. (Justlight/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

September is Self-Care Awareness Month and the American Heart Association in Missouri is urging caregivers to take some much-needed time for themselve…

Environment

play sound

In Virginia's waters, the decline of a small but critically important fish is causing growing concern among conservation groups and fishermen alike…

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado voters will decide whether to change the state's constitution to ensure families have school choice as a fundamental right. Kallie Leyba…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021