Sticker Shock 2020: The Cost of Youth Incarceration

From the introduction:

“Justice Policy Institute found that the average cost of the most expensive confinement option for a young person in 48 states was $588 per day, or $214,620 per year. The data show that in 40 states taxpayers spend at least $100,000 a year for a single young person’s confinement, and in 12 states spend over $250,000 a year for a single young person’s confinement. Four of these states – Alaska, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont – spend over $500,000 a year to confine a young person. By contrast, these resources can be better allocated toward services known to improve outcomes, including community-based alternatives, secondary and higher education, and investments in communities that are most impacted by crime.”