In the book Burning Down the House, author and journalist Nell Bernstein discusses the unfairness and harm done by childhood incarceration. Throughout the book, she talks with young people involved in system, exploring how it has impacted their development; and that’s what she did in-person at Youth Radio earlier this month.
If there is one group of students with the most to gain from staying in school, it is those minors transitioning out of the juvenile justice system. Yet of the roughly 42,000 youth who attend California’s juvenile court schools each year, only 20 percent successfully reenroll within 30 days of their release from the system.
Ricky Brum stood in an alleyway behind a furniture store in Manteca, California, and to be honest, it was a little awkward. He didn’t really want to be there. Last February, Brum set some cardboard boxes on fire just a few feet away.
A report on how cash-squeezed counties offset the costs of youth incarceration by charging parents — including one mother who’s on the hook for more than $7,500 in fees, even though her child has passed away.
You might think the cost of juvenile incarceration and rehabilitation is covered by taxpayers and state budgets. But increasingly, a portion of those costs is being passed on to families.
Even before he was arrested, 17-year-old Michael Garcia was in need of help. He had an auditory processing disorder and…
As many stories as there are about juvenile detention centers, it’s rare to actually hear from the young people who currently live in them. “Sending Messages,” a podcast produced by Spy Hop, is changing that. Since 2012, Spy Hop has worked with youth in secure-care facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah to create half-an-hour-long shows on themes ranging from loyalty to childhood. Each episode is a variety of interviews, stories, and poetry. We’ve posted one of their episodes titled, “When I Get Out,” below.
Young people in Chicago who have…
