After steady and significant declines in the use of juvenile detention across Wisconsin, over the past four years we have seen a leveling off in the number of youth held on an average day around the state in our detention centers.  The overall number of admissions declined some in 2012, but the average number on a given day has remained relatively steady (around 215) for 2009 through 2012.

This and other data is illustrated in the Detention Data Report 2012 just posted on the WCCF website. Things that are worthy of note include: (1) only about one in four youth admitted to detention have a crime against person as the underlying charge; (2) fifty-seven percent of youth admitted are non-white; (3) age and gender of admissions has remained steady; and (4) sixteen of the eighteen centers averaged less than 50% of capacity over the year.

Wisconsin has come a long way in reducing both short and long term confinement of youth, but the work is never done. There is more that can be done to ensure that we only confine those youth who really need to be detained to protect the public or ensure they appear in court.  And, whether the admissions numbers portend a leveling off of other juvenile justice data, such as arrests, petitions, corrections placements, etc. only time will tell.    by Jim Moeser