Reduce Juvenile Detention

Policymakers can measure progress toward preparing youth to succeed in life by tracking data in both the areas of risk factors and positive youth development.  The indicators below meet criteria for powerful, useful result measures in these areas.

Youth Risk Indicators

• Juvenile detention. Measures the rate of youth detained, incarcerated, or placed in residential facilities.[i] 
• A sub-indicator some jurisdictions may want to track is juvenile arrests.

• Rates of pregnancies and births to teen.   Birth rates for teenagers 15-19 years. [ii] 

• Binge alcohol and illicit drug use by youth in past month. These are measured separately but can, and should, be tracked together.
• Illicit drug use.
• Binge alcohol use. [iii]

• Teens not attending school and not working.  Measures the percentage of teenagers who are not enrolled in school (full- or part-time) and not employed (full- or part-time). [iv] Sub-indicators that could be tracked include:
• High school drop out -- Teenagers who are not enrolled in high school and are not high school graduates.[v]
• Unemployed teens -- Teenagers who are unemployed or not in the labor force. [vi]