A new study showing that fewer states are locking up juveniles also reports that Tennessee’s rate of youth incarceration has dropped 66 percent, the most of any state.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation study looked at youth incarceration rates from 1997 to 2010.
Tennessee had the greatest reduction. Georgia’s rate of reduction ranked fourth, with 52 percent. Alabama’s rate, 35 percent, tied with two other states for 17th but fell short of the national average of 37 percent. Six states had youth incarceration increases while seven had declines of more than 50 percent.
Over the past four years Bradley County has halved the number of youths it sends to state centers or places on probation, said Terry Gallaher, director of the county’s Juvenile Court program.
In both Georgia and Tennessee, officials credited improved, evidence-based assessments with improving juvenile justice in recent years.