Burns Institute

Our philosophy is simple — Incarceration is harmful to the positive development of our children; Data is key towards an understanding the complexities of racial inequity within the youth justice system; and Local communities can play a critical role in transformational change.

Today, more than 2 million people are incarcerated and more than 7 million are on probation, parole, or other supervision in the United States. Too much of the analysis about how we arrived at this situation and what should be done about it is ahistorical.

With 75 percent of youth locked up for non-violent offenses, our country doesn't have an alarming crime problem. We have an incarceration problem.

The child well-being framework firmly asserts the rights of all young people, regardless of their race and ethnicity, to be viewed as children who are experiencing a normal adolescent journey and to be treated with fairness and equity.