Published by The California Wellness Foundation
In 2024, the U.S. still leads the world in incarceration. We lock up more people per capita — even children — than any other country. On any given day, nearly 60,000 minors are held in juvenile jails and prisons across the country and the experiences of girls in the system are often overlooked. Now, a new report from Young Women’s Freedom Center (YWFC) and the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) shows that permanently ending the incarceration of girls and transgender youth is possible in California.
Over the last decade, girls’ arrests in California have fallen by 81% and girls’ detentions by 72%. The report makes clear, by investing in gender-sensitive, community-based solutions, California can confront the forces funneling girls into juvenile jails and prisons and ultimately get to zero incarcerations.