Report: Texas among 'Comeback States' leading juvenile de-incarceration

Via email I learned that:

A bi-partisan report released last week, co-authored by the National Juvenile Justice Network and the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Effective Justice, found that the number of juveniles in confinement in the US has dropped dramatically - nearly 40% - since 2000, a time when we were facing a record-high number of kids behind bars.

The report, “Comeback States,” looked at the six key policies and practices responsible for this turnaround in nine states, including: the use of alternatives to incarceration, closing or downsizing youth confinement facilities, disallowing incarceration for minor offenses, and restructuring juvenile justice responsibilities and finances among the state and counties.

For more background, check out this analysis of the data by the Washington Post’s Wonk Blog and this nifty gif that lays out the key findings.