May 17-24 is the National Week of Action Against Incarcerating Youth. The effort, led by the Save Our Kids organization is posting a range of resources that can help inform everyone about how many youth are placed out of home in both secure and non-secure confinement settings. You can see how Wisconsin compares with other states by checking out a cool interactive site developed by ACLU – the map provides the rate of placement in secure and residential placements per 100,000 youth. Wisconsin’s rate of 173 youth per 100,000 puts us essentially in the same general range as our neighboring Midwest states, but only Minnesota has a noticeably lower rate.

We can continue to push down this number by promoting better up-front assessments, locally-driven alternatives, doing better with youth that come through the child welfare system, and doing better engaging and helping parents keep their child at home.         by Jim Moeser