The juvenile legal system disproportionately harms youth with disabilities. Youth with disabilities are more likely to be arrested, removed from their home, and placed in a juvenile facility and forced to navigate a system that criminalizes behaviors often stemming from their disability and adolescence. As an example, an overwhelming majority of youth in the juvenile legal system have experienced mental health challenges—with estimates around 70% of youth with a diagnosable mental health condition and 90% of youth with a history of trauma. Schools often funnel youth with disabilities into a pipeline to the juvenile legal system, as schools are more likely to subject youth with disabilities to disciplinary procedures and school-based arrests largely due to biases and misinterpretation of behavior.

Once a youth becomes involved with juvenile court, they then face a system that is unequipped to offer appropriate accommodations and services while exacerbating and creating new harm and trauma. When youth are incarcerated, they face an absence of services, unsafe conditions, and isolation, all of which worsen disabilities and increase fear, anxiety, and the risk of suicide for youth. Even when youth are released, they are required to navigate complex orders under the threat of incarceration that too often exacerbate trauma, depression, and other underlying disabilities. This cycle of harm heavily burdens youth of color, especially Black, Native/Indigenous, and Latine youth, who are overrepresented in the juvenile legal system.