Profile of
the backgrounds of YTEC youth
- All were aged between 14 and 18;
- 53% were African American, 19% Asian, 15% Latino, 4%
Pacific Islander, 2% White, 7% other;
- 80% were from one-parent, low-income households;
- 30% had been in out-of-home placements including foster
care;
- 60% had experienced sexual abuse and many had engaged
in sex in exchange for money, drugs, or other goods;
- Most had three or more prior contacts with the juvenile
justice system;
Many had been out of school for two years or more; some were
as much as seven years behind their expected academic performance. |
Because as many as four out of five
teens in the juvenile justice system have drug and/or alcohol
problems; yet
fewer than 20% have access to substance abuse treatment.
- Because incarceration alone doesn’t work,
but substance abuse treatment does:
- youth who are incarcerated without receiving treatment have
very high rates of re-arrest;
- treatment reduces drug use and crime by 40 to 60% ,
with increasingly better results the longer the participants
stay in treatment.
- Because every $1 invested in treatment yields a return
of $4-7 in reduced crime and criminal justice costs.
If health care savings are added, twelve dollars is saved for
every dollar spent.
- Because this is an issue of social justice:
The majority of YTEC youth live in neighborhoods with a high incidence
of poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, and crime.
Many are routinely
faced with high levels of violence and intimidation within and outside
their families.
Most have become alienated from school. Too many
are youth of color.
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