Latino and Hispanic Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

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Latino Youth and the Juvenile Court System CJJ Position Statement on Latino Youth: • All children deserve to be treated fairly, regardless of race or ethnicity. • Policy makers, police officials, officers of the court and correctional providers must work together to remove racial inequities from the juvenile court system. • CJJ supports the core requirement in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act that compels states to identify and remove racial inequality among incarcerated young offenders. General Facts: • Latinos represent the country’s largest minority group. With a population over 42 million, they comprise 14.4% of the national population. 1 • Currently, nearly 35% of Latinos are under age 18. They comprise 19.6% of the national youth population. 2 • Nearly one-third of families with children that are headed by Latino citizens experience overcrowded housing, a lack of needed medical care, or hunger or the risk of hunger; 47% of families with children that are headed by Latino noncitizens face the same hardships. 3 Latino Youth in the Justice System: • The exact number of Latino youth in the juvenile court system is unknown because Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports and most other data sources often categorize Latino offenders as white. 4 • In six states, Latino youth are at least three times more likely to be incarcerated than whites; in 14 other states, Latino youth are twice as likely to be incarcerated then whites; nationwide, Latino youth are one and half times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth. 5 • At the sentencing stage of the juvenile court system, Latino children were sent to detention and correctional facilities more often and for longer time periods than whites who had committed the same offenses. 6 1 U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office: Nation’s Population One-Third Minority, Washington, DC, May 10, 2006. 2 Ibid. 3 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, African American and Latino Families Face High Rates of Hardships, Washington, DC, November 21, 2006. 4 Esperanza: Awakening to the Strength of Latino Youth, CJJ, 2001. 5 Human Rights Watch, Backgrounders: Race and Incarceration in the United States, New York, NY, February 27, 2002. 6 Building Blocks for Youth, Donde Esta La Justicia?, Washington, DC, July 2002. ___________________________________ 1710 Rhode Island Avenue, NW • 10th Floor • Washington, DC 20036 (202) 467-0864 • (202) 887-0738 Fax • info@juvjustice.org • www.juvjustice.org
• On average, young Latino offenders were confined 112 days longer than white youth who committed the same offenses and had comparable histories of delinquency. 7 • More Latino youth (11.6%) ages 12-17 report using illicit drugs than their non- Latino peers (10.8%). 8 • The percentage of Latino youth in adult state prisons was larger than the percentage of Latino youth in the general U.S. population. 9 Latino Youth and the INS: 10 • Three conditions allow the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to jail youth: 1. An emergency influx of young illegal immigrants; 2. If the child is charged with a crime; or 3. If the youth is awaiting placement to a foster home within three to five days. • Often, youth are not charged with crimes when they are detained in juvenile facilities while the INS decides their fates. Their length of stay can be indefinite. • In 1999, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) took about 4,600 children into custody for entering the United States illegally. • One-third of the immigrant youth apprehended in 1999 were locked away in jails and juvenile detention centers. The youngest jailed child was eight years old. CJJ Recommendations: • Latino children must be recognized as a population comprising distinctive ethnic groups with various cultures, needs and strengths. • Interaction with the education system for Latino youth and their parents/families must be a source of confidence that keeps youth engaged in learning and not a frustration that pushes them to the streets. • Comprehensive healthcare, encompassing mental healthcare, must be recognized as being critical to developing children’s physical well-being, as well as a base for building self-esteem and emotional balance. • New U.S. Attorneys who are Latino or speak Spanish must be hired to direct and conduct services and initiatives targeted at strengthening Latino youth and families. • Developing community programs that address family violence and substance abuse among Latinos with cultural and linguistic sensitivity must be a priority. 7 Ibid. 8 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Substance Use Among Hispanic Youth, Rockville, MD, August 19, 2005. 9 Child Welfare League of America, Transfer and Waiver in the Juvenile Justice System, Washington, DC, 2005. 10 Esperanza: Awakening to the Strength of Latino Youth, CJJ, 2001. ___________________________________ 1710 Rhode Island Avenue, NW • 10th Floor • Washington, DC 20036 (202) 467-0864 • (202) 887-0738 Fax • info@juvjustice.org • www.juvjustice.org
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Turning the Improbable Into the Exc
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disproportionate share of all felon
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• From 1994 to 2011 the rate of b
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• Latinos account for 22 percent
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• In 2010, the Latino male incarc
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and 60 percent were White; and 54 p
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Juvenile facilities, including 1,80
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New Jersey 11 55 5 New Mexico 86 20
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percent.4)The remaining commitments
Page 38 and 39: Hispanic/White Racial Disparity in
Page 40 and 41: Trends in Hispanic to White Commitm
Page 42 and 43: Florida 25% 62% 1227% Georgia 36% -
Page 44 and 45: See full data in Appendix D.13)OJJD
Page 46 and 47: Black/White Youth Arrest Disparitie
Page 48 and 49: decrease racial disparities in comm
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Page 52 and 53: implemented effective, data-driven
Page 54 and 55: decisions regarding detention of yo
Page 56 and 57: or ethnic group, and/or geographic
Page 58 and 59: positively with youth, and how to t
Page 62 and 63: Black 456,276 6% American Indian 27
Page 64 and 65: DUI 286 0.7% Drunkenness 381 0.9% L
Page 66 and 67: Arrest Percentages Hispanic juvenil
Page 68 and 69: Types of Cases Simple assault accou
Page 70 and 71: Stolen property offense 293 12.6% 2
Page 72 and 73: Adjudicated cases resulting in plac
Page 76 and 77: safety without destroying lives and
Page 78 and 79: crime, and save money. The most exp
Page 82 and 83: youth) by 2008. As the number of La
Page 84 and 85: Notes _____________________________
Page 92 and 93: U.S. Department of Justice Office o
Page 94 and 95: Juvenile court data discussed in th
Page 96 and 97: Offense profiles for white youth an
Page 98 and 99: Hispanic youth were more likely to
Page 100 and 101: Delinquency cases involving Hispani
Page 102 and 103: In 2013, across offense categories,
Page 106 and 107: Representing Hispanic/Latino Youth
Page 108 and 109: Hispanic/Latino Youth in Juvenile D
Page 110 and 111: youth as early as possible and prio
Page 112 and 113: Ask about his or her home and schoo
Page 114 and 115: youth and their families may not be
Page 116 and 117: special needs, health concerns, or
Page 118 and 119: Hispanic/Latino Youth in Juvenile D
Page 120 and 121: Washoe County Juvenile Services Lim
Page 122 and 123: Advocacy Foundation Publishers Page
Page 124 and 125: Issue Title Quarterly Vol. I 2015 T
Page 126 and 127: Issue Title Quarterly Vol. V 2019 O
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Page 130 and 131: Vol. XVIII 2032 Public Policy LXXVI
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Page 136 and 137: The e-Advocate Newsletter Genesis o
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Extras The Nonprofit Advisors Group
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www.TheAdvocacyFoundation.org Page
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