Black Disparities in Youth Incarceration

The Sentencing Project released three factsheets highlighting racial disparities in the incarceration of youth: Black Disparities in Youth Incarceration, Disparities in Tribal Youth Incarceration, and Latinx Disparities in Youth Incarceration. These factsheets highlight youth placement rates in 2021 by state and demonstrate that racial disparities persist. Notably, Black youth nationwide are nearly five times more likely to be incarcerated than their white counterparts and at least ten times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth in the following states: Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Illinois. Native/Indigenous youth are 3.7 times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth and more than five times more likely to be incarcerated in Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Carolina. Lastly, Latino/a youth are 1.16 times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth and at least four times more likely to be incarcerated in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut. These factsheets offer a helpful state-by-state analysis of racial disparities, revealing that despite declining incarceration rates, racial and ethnic disparities stubbornly remain.