In Part 1 of this blog, we discussed the good news that rates of youth confinement are declining nationally, demonstrating a 40% decline in youth confinement from 2003 to 2013. However, we also alluded to a caveat—the data doesn’t look equally as good for all groups of youth, especially youth of color. A further analysis of youth in confinement nationwide, broken down by race and ethnicity, demonstrates an alarming pattern of disproportionality. Most significant is the rate of confinement of black youth, which was almost five times as high as the rate for white youth. A similar pattern emerges for American Indian youth, who were confined at a rate more than three times higher than their white counterparts. Similarly, the overall rate of confinement for Hispanic youth was almost twice the rate of white youth. Conversely, the data showed a much different story for Asian youth in confinement, with a rate of only 28 per 100,000 youth, about half as high as the rate for White youth. The following graph shows actual rates of youth in confinement, broken out by race/ethnicity, in the United States and Wisconsin.

As the previous graph shows, racial and ethnic differences in confinement in Wisconsin are much starker than the national levels. The actual rates of youth of color in confinement compared to white youth in confinement are much more disparate in the state than in the nation as a whole. In 2013, the rate of confinement for black youth was about 16 times higher than that of their white counterparts. For American Indian youth, the rate of confinement was more than 7 times higher than for white youth. Although Wisconsin’s actual rate of Hispanic youth in confinement was lower than the national average, this rate is still almost twice as high as the rate for white youth in confinement in Wisconsin. Consistent with national data, the rate of Asian youth in confinement in Wisconsin was extremely low.

It is also important to observe how the rates of youth of different races in confinement have changed over time and how they compare to the total rate of decline. In Wisconsin, the overall rate of youth in confinement dropped about 43% from 2003 to 2013—more quickly than the rate for black youth (24%) but more slowly than the rates for white youth (58%) or Asian youth (94%) over the same decade. The following graph shows differences in rates of youth in confinement in 2003 and 2013, separated by race and ethnicity.

For a more detailed look at this data, or data on many other indicators of child wellbeing, visit the Kids Count Data Center.

By Karissa Propson