Justice Policy Institute Report - Sticker Shock 2020: The Cost of Youth Incarceration

REPORT: JULY 2020

Today the Justice Policy Institute released an updated version of their 2014 report Sticker Shock: Calculating the Full Price Tag for Youth Incarceration that examined the high cost of youth incarceration and how to use money more efficiently.

According to Sticker Shock 2020: The Cost of Youth Incarceration, “JPI found that the average cost of the most expensive confinement option for a young person in 48 states was $588 per day, or $214,620 per year. The data show that in 40 states taxpayers spend at least $100,000 a year for a single young person’s confinement, and in 12 states spend over $250,000 a year for a single young person’s confinement. Four of these states – Alaska, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont – spend over $500,000 a year to confine a young person.”

The cost is even greater in Connecticut where the cost to incarcerate a young person averages $750 per day, which amounts to $273,750.00 per year — a 23% increase since years 2011 to 2014.

We need to shift money to invest in the success of our youth - not in their arrest, confinement, and incarceration.

Check out the full report and recommendations here.