Pennsylvania Youth Deserve Possibilities, Not Prisons!

Pennsylvania Youth Deserve Pathways to Possibilities, Not Pipelines to Prison!

Tell Governor Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Legislators to invest in youth rehabilitative practices and divest from youth incarceration.

Dear Governor Shapiro and PA Legislators,

Prison is no place for a kid. Children deserve a future free of criminalization, a future that supports their development and capacity to contribute meaningfully to society.

On any typical day, the United States incarcerates 27,000 people. Nationally, Black youth are 4.7 times more likely to be incarcerated than their White peers. Indigenous youth are 3.7 times more likely, and Hispanic youth are incarcerated at a 16% higher rate than White youth. Pennsylvania ranks higher in incarceration rates than 11 of the founding NATO nation. In Pennsylvania, African American youth are 5.7 times more likely to be incarcerated than their White peers. By 2050, Hispanic Youth are projected to account for one-third of all incarcerated youth in Pennslyvania. Black, Brown, Indigenous, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ youth face higher rates of incarceration than their white peers.

Pennsylvania is one of only 13 states with no limit on juveniles who can be tried in adult courts and exposed to adult jails or prisons. These are children who have not learned to drive a car but now face life in adult prisons, some without the possibility of parole—prisons where children can become prey to dangerous adults.

Many of these kids could be released today without great risk to public safety and due to the serious, harmful effects of incarceration on a person’s mental and physical health, their economic and social prospects, their relationships, and the people around them, there is growing consensus that youth confinement is ineffective in comparison to community-based programs that provide supports, services, and opportunities for youth.

The practice of incarcerating kids is archaic, ineffective, and not cost-effective. In Pennsylvania, it costs $200,000 annually to incarcerate a child but only $16,000 annually to fund a child’s public education. Still, most states spend a significant portion of their Juvenile Justice funding on youth prisons, with an estimated annual cost of over 5 billion a year.

There are alternatives, and studies show that when young people involved in the juvenile justice system avoid incarceration and engage in alternatives [including but not limited to home confinement, treatment, therapy, and youth-centric intensive supervision programs], the rate of conviction and rearrest is dramatically reduced.

We need you to END the practice of putting kids in prison and invest in community-based support, services, and opportunities for youth.

Sincerely,

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