Small & Gutsy Features Legendary Legacies

Did you know that Black Youth are Almost Five Times As Likely To Be Incarcerated As their White Peers?

The following are some data points from the Sentencing Project, captured by Josh Rovner and Ashley Nellis

For a decade, incarceration disparities between Black and white youth have remained stubbornly high. As of 2021, Black youth were 4.7 times as likely to be placed, meaning detained or committed to juvenile facilities as their white peers. Forty-two percent of youths in placement are Black, even though Black Americans comprise only 15% of all youth across the United States. Since, Black and brown youth are more likely to be in custody than white youth, going to prison is a major life-altering event that creates obstacles to rebuilding lives in the community, such as gaining employment and finding stable and safe housing after release. Imprisonment also reduces lifetime earnings and negatively affects life outcomes among children of incarcerated parents. These are individual-level consequences of imprisonment but there are societal-level consequences as well: high levels of imprisonment in communities cause high crime rates and neighborhood deterioration, thus fueling greater disparities. This cycle both individually and societally is felt disproportionately by people who are Black and Brown.

So what do these statistics and social work brokering have to do with one another? You will soon find out by listening to this episode.

For more information, please visit their website: www.legendlegacies.org