FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2024

Contact: Michael Czaczkes, mczaczkes@vera.org and Victoria Gomez, tori@youngwomenfree.org

(CALIFORNIA) Today, the Vera Institute of Justice and Young Women’s Freedom Center released the landmark report ‘Freedom and Justice: Ending the Incarceration of Girls and Gender-Expansive Youth in California’. This seminal report provides an in-depth look at the incarceration of girls and gender-expansive youth in California through an analysis of quantitative data as well as first-person stories and presents a roadmap of solutions for policy and practice changes that can be implemented to reduce—and eventually end—their incarceration.

Ending the incarceration of girls and gender-expansive youth in California is not only critically important, it is possible to achieve. Over the past ten years, arrests of girls and gender-expansive youth have dropped by 81%, and their detention has fallen by 72%. By December 2022, most counties in California had five or fewer girls in custody on any given day, and this number could be reduced by almost half if detention was eliminated for misdemeanors, status offenses, and violations of court orders.

It is also impossible to ignore the racial and gender inequities inherent in the incarceration of girls and gender-expansive youth. At every point in the juvenile legal system, Black, Latina/x, and Indigenous girls are overrepresented. Latina/x girls make up the majority of girls’ admissions to detention across the state, and Black girls make up 24 percent of all girls’ detentions, even though they only constitute 6 percent of girls in California. Furthermore, studies have shown that in California, LGBTQ youth are significantly overrepresented, with an estimated 51% of youth in girls’ juvenile justice facilities identifying as lesbian, bisexual, questioning, gender nonconforming, or transgender.

“We have the solutions that are needed to ensure that girls and gender expansive youth are safe and avoid adding the harm of incarceration to the trauma they’ve already experienced, but we need bold leadership to step up and implement policies in partnership with community leaders,” said Hannah Green, associate director of Ending Girls Incarceration at the Vera Institute of Justice. “California is so close to ending the incarceration of girls and gender-expansive youth and can make it a reality by investing in the community-based resources young people say that they need.”

"This report echoes what we have always known, that incarceration is not a safe or appropriate response to the needs of young people. In California, youth system involvement is driven largely by poverty and racial inequality. We need to address these issues through community programming that does not replicate the harm of detention. At Young Women's Freedom Center, our programs have significantly reduced recidivism and led to positive outcomes for youth." said Abigail Richards, vice president of Reimagine Freedom.

This report clearly demonstrates that detention isn’t the answer to support girls and gender-expansive youth. While the choice to incarcerate them is meant to keep them safe and deliver access to supportive services, instead, it all too often subjects them to harm—including verbal, physical, and sexual violence from arrest through incarceration—and fails to meet their basic needs. Evidence has shown that gender-responsive programs are the most effective way to address and support the needs of girls and gender-expansive youth. The young people interviewed for this report advocated for investments in community-based healing, therapy, and mentorship resources; housing and material economic support; and opportunities to engage in advocacy and give back to their communities. Ending girls' incarceration is about more than simply reducing and eliminating the number of girls and gender-expansive youth in custody—it is about investing in community-led solutions and resources that affirmatively advance their freedom and self-determination.

There has been encouraging progress made across California in counties like Alameda, San Francisco, and Santa Clara, which have started to show what is possible, offering important proof points. This report lays out several vital steps that local and state-level policymakers can take, as well as specific policy recommendations they can implement to continue this progress.

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About the Vera Institute of Justice:

The Vera Institute of Justice is powered by hundreds of advocates, researchers, and policy experts working to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems until they’re fair for all. Founded in 1961 to advocate for alternatives to money bail in New York City, Vera is now a national organization that partners with impacted communities and government leaders for change. We develop just, antiracist solutions so that money doesn’t determine freedom; fewer people are in jails, prisons, and immigration detention; and everyone is treated with dignity. Vera’s headquarters is in Brooklyn, New York, with offices in Washington, DC, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit vera.org.

About Young Women’s Freedom Center

Since 1993, Young Women’s Freedom Center has provided support, mentorship, training, employment, and advocacy to young women and trans youth of all genders in California who have grown up in poverty, experienced the juvenile legal and foster care systems, have had to survive living and working on the streets, and who have experienced significant violence in their lives. Our mission is to build the power and leadership of directly impacted young people and inspire them to create positive change in their lives and communities.