Are our Children being Pushed into Prison?

The pipeline to prison: The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and its prisons and jails are overwhelmingly filled with African Americans and Latinos. The paths to prison for Young African-American and Latino men are many, but the starting points are often the school and foster care systems.

From School to Prison: Students of color face hasher discipline and are more likely to be pushed out of school than Whites. 40% of students expelled from U.S. schools each year are Black. 70% of students involved in ìin-schoolî arrests or referred to law enforcement are Black or Latino. Black students are three and a half times more likely to be suspended than Whites. Black and Latino students are twice as likely to not graduate high school as Whites. 68% of all males in state and federal prison do not have a high school diploma.

From Foster Care to Prison: Youth of color are more likely than Whites to be placed in the foster care system, a breeding ground for the criminal justice system. 50% of children in the foster care system are Black or Latino. 30% of foster care youth entering the juvenile justice system are placement-related behavioral cases (e.g. running away from a group home). 25% of young people leaving foster care will be incarcerated within a few years after turning 18. 50% of young people leaving foster care will be unemployed within a few years after turning 18. 70% of inmates in California state prison are former foster care youth.

The color of mass incarceration: 61% of incarcerated population vs Black or Latino: 30% of U.S. population. One out of three African-American males will be incarcerated in his lifetime. One out of six Latino males will be incarcerated in his lifetime.