The number of Arkansas youth locked up in correctional facilities went up 20 percent from 1997 to 2010, bucking a national trend, according to a report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The number of young people in correctional facilities dropped more than 40 percent nationally over the same period of time with no measurable decrease in public safety.

The report, Reducing Youth Incarceration in the United States, says Arkansas is one of only five states – along with Idaho, Nebraska, South Dakota, and West Virginia – that saw an increase in youth confinement.

Most youthful offenders do not pose a serious threat to public safety and do not need to be confined. Using secure confinement to lock up youth who do not pose a serious threat is a waste of taxpayers’ money and diminishes the likelihood of rehabilitation and a brighter future for young offenders. The state spends $29.5 million annually for confining youth committed to the custody of the Department of Human Services Division of Youth Services (DHS DYS). The recidivism rate for kids in Arkansas’s secure juvenile facilities is 46.5 percent.

The report says the recent trend in de-incarceration “provides a unique opportunity to implement responses to delinquency that are more cost-effective and humane, and that provide better outcomes for youth, their families, and their communities.”

Paul Kelly, senior policy analyst at Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, says Arkansas has shown a capacity to reduce secure confinement of low-risk offenders, but community-based alternatives are better for youth and the state budget.

“Using community-based programs as an alternative to locking these kids up is really a win, win,” Kelly says. “It saves the state money, it reduces the chances that these kids will end up back in the system, and it gives them a shot at a better future.”

Kelly says there is a bill now under consideration in the Arkansas Senate aimed at lowering the rate of youth incarceration and saving the state the funds it takes to lock them up. Senate Bill 335, The Arkansas Close to Home Act, would reserve secure confinement for youth who pose a significant risk to public safety by providing alternative community-based services that are more effective for non-violent offenders.

“We have evidence that using secure confinement for low- or moderate-risk youthful offenders is not cost-effective and it’s not achieving the results desired when you compare it to proven-effective community alternatives,” Kelly says. “We can achieve even greater cost savings and improve the outcomes for rehabilitated youth.”

You can read the Annie E. Casey Report here.

Click here to read AACF’s recent report, Serving Non-Violent Youthful Offenders in their Communities: The Costs and Benefits of a More Effective Juvenile Justice System for Arkansas.