Perhaps no group of young people faces more daunting barriers to achieving their career goals than youth in the juvenile justice system. More than 30,000 youth are incarcerated in the United States every year, and more than 325,000 are placed on some form of probation. Increasingly, these youth are older and seeking to enter the workforce—as of 2015, approximately 75 percent of incarcerated youth and 50 percent of all youth adjudicated to any level of supervision were age 16 and over. Yet,
these youth are disproportionately likely, compared to their peers that are not involved in the justice system, to face an array of barriers to transitioning to a crime-free, productive adulthood.
On Track: How well are states preparing youth in the juvenile justice system for employment?
