This report—the fifth of its kind—serves as an annual results recap for Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. It packages data from 131 sites across the country that are committed to one cause: reducing the use of secure confinement for juveniles. Readers will learn how participating jurisdictions have succeeded in creating a fairer, safer and more efficient justice system for today’s youth—and where there is still much work to be done. The goal? Use this statistical progress check to deepen our understanding of the overall impact, influence and leverage of this detention reform movement.
Hundreds of sites have taken up detention reforms through JDAI—large and small, urban and rural, in every region of the country. These jurisdictions have substantially reduced their reliance on detention for juveniles—an effort that translates to 1.3 million fewer days in detention annually—all without compromising public safety.
