The number of children behind bars in Kentucky has declined significantly in recent years, but their advocates said more work could be done to create effective alternatives to incarceration.

The one-day count of detained youths in 2021 was nearly 25,000 nationwide, which is a 60% decrease over the past decade, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Josh Rovner, director of youth justice for The Sentencing Project, said while the trend is positive, it should not be expected to continue. He pointed out at least part of the decrease was because of the pandemic.

"When you think about the things that kids get arrested for, it's often school-based referrals," Rovner observed. "And if virtual school is happening, then kids aren't going to be referred by their school resource officers. They're not going to be shoplifting if all the stores are closed, they're not going to be getting into fights if they're all staying at home."

A one-day count in 2019 found almost 600 kids under 18 in detention facilities in Kentucky. By 2021, the number had dropped to about 300. Data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation showed young people released from correctional confinement have high rates of being rearrested.

Research has shown children who are incarcerated often experience significant long-term consequences, which Rovner noted persist into adulthood.

"Whether there's one child who is locked up -- or 10,000 or 100,000 -- it's important to realize just how toxic these facilities are for kids," Rovner contended. "They have much worse outcomes, not only on their education and career achievements, but also much more likely to reoffend."

Recognizing the adverse effects, experts and activists are asking for a more compassionate approach to juvenile justice. Reforms focusing on rehabilitation and community-based support systems have proven to be more effective in addressing the underlying issues than locking juveniles up.


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Nearly 2,000 South Dakota juveniles were successfully diverted from the state's court system this year, according to a new report.

A 2024 law has added fiscal incentive for counties to continue these diversion efforts.

When low-risk youth are diverted from the court system, they are 45% less likely to reoffend, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Diversion can take many forms, from mural-painting to skateboarding programs.

State's Attorney Lara Roetzel in Pennington County, where diversion programs have been used for about 25 years, said they can help unveil the root cause of a child's misbehavior.

"Diversion gives you a chance to really get to know that young person, and get them the help that they need," said Roetzel, "because it's not always obvious."

For example, she said, a child caught stealing may be doing so to support a drug habit - and would be best served through addiction counseling.

The Department of Social Services has also expanded community-based treatment options for youth, including functional family therapy and aggression replacement therapy, according to a draft 2024 report from the state's Juvenile Justice Oversight Council.

When a child avoids court or incarceration, the state saves money - so the state compensates counties for the cost per child of successful diversions.

South Dakota Senate Bill 47, passed this year, increased the amount paid from $250 to $750 per child. Roetzel said that allows the diversion programming to continue.

"It meant that I just wrote a check this week," said Roetzel, "that will allow me to pay for classes for almost all of the young people that will go through my juvenile diversion programs next year."

This is particularly helpful, she said, because otherwise the outstanding costs land on parents - who often can't afford to pay them.




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When a 6-year-old girl in Florida had a temper tantrum in class, it seemed like a typical childhood moment.

But instead of calming the situation, a school resource officer placed her in a squad car, fingerprinted her and took a mug shot, which left lasting emotional scars.

Delvin Davis, senior policy analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the case highlights a troubling ongoing concern: disparities in how discipline is enforced, particularly for Black and brown children. This case and others are highlighted in his report, "Only Young Once: The Systemic Harm of Florida's School-to-Prison Pipeline and Youth Legal System."

"As you can imagine, it was a very traumatic experience for her," Davis explained. "She's older now, but still it has lingering on ongoing effects for her -- mentally and how she does well in school and how she interacts with other people, things like that -- and how she interacts with authority figures as well."

Following the case, in 2021, the Florida Legislature passed the "Kaia Rolle Act," which prohibits the arrest of children under age 7, except in cases involving a forcible felony. However, children as young as 7 can still be arrested and prosecuted in the state.

Davis' report examined how school discipline policies, combined with a significant increase in law enforcement presence in schools, have exacerbated the problem, particularly in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting. Davis noted it led to a sharp rise in school-based policing.

"Once you expel or suspend a kid from school, there's a higher correlation for dropout rates," Davis pointed out. "And pretty much the first step into the school to prison pipeline is a downward spiral, where you're more likely to see that kid detained later on, arrested later on and further on into the penal system."

At the heart of Davis's findings is a call for systemic change to ensure schools are places of support and growth, not gateways to the juvenile justice system. The report also pointed to solutions, emphasizing community-based programs as more effective alternatives to punitive discipline.


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The holiday season is a difficult time of year for families with children in Washington's youth detention centers. Families have limited access to children in prisons.

Rashida Robbins has a child in Green Hill School, a 180-bed facility in Chehalis. She said families were invited to holiday dinners in early December but noted it was long before Christmas and on that day, she said, there will be a hole in her home that cannot be filled.

"It's pretty tough, and the lack of access to him during these times makes it even tougher," Robbins explained. "The thought of him just sitting in a locked room makes it unbearable as a parent. It's really rough."

Gov. Jay Inslee has announced a proposal for a new youth facility to address overcrowding, specifically at Green Hill. Organizations, including Kids Are Kids and TeamChild, have criticized the plan, saying it does not address the current concerns at Green Hill.

Stacy Stanaway said unaddressed issues have been the case for her son, who suffered from behavioral challenges before he was sent to Green Hill. She added a disciplinary action meant she was not able to visit for the family holiday earlier in the month.

"We can't just isolate people from their family, from their community and expect things to just go away," Stanaway argued. "And so, with my son the holidays especially are really, really difficult for us because he has younger siblings, he has older siblings."

A spokesperson for Green Hill said because the holiday event involved a high number of visitors, the behavior expectations leading up to the event were "no physical aggression and drug use 30 days in advance" for safety reasons.

Stanaway acknowledged much of the healing for her boy will have to happen after he comes back from the youth facility.

"It's going to be a phase and a period of time that's going to take years, in reality, of recovery for my child," Stanaway stressed. "I feel that time is paused right now."

Robbins added sometimes, it feels like kids are never meant to get out of a facility like Green Hill. She implores state leaders to do something.

"I would challenge the people that have the power to make changes to do so and be on the right side of history," Robbins concluded.


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