On any given day in the United States, approximately 97,000 juvenile offenders are held in correctional facilities. The Dept. of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice has concluded that better rehabilitation and re-entry care can reduce time spent incarcerated, allow juvenile offenders to better adjust to the outside world, and reduce costs.

Yet our prisons are still over crowded, and the juvenile justice system does not focus on rehabilitation, leading to more repeat offenders, and ultimately, depriving both society and the offenders themselves of their full potential.

Rehabilitation needs to become the focus of any reform to the juvenile justice system, so that both communities and former offenders benefit.

The League also realizes the need to address the root causes of urban violence that leads to such high rates of juvenile incarceration.  In Wisconsin, the local League worked with Mothers Against Gun Violence to close loopholes on gun sales, and to reduce violence amongst youth of color.

With such experiences under our belt, we will work to mobilize voters and convince legislators and officials to encourage more rehabilitation rather than a broken prison system.

Questions? Comments? Have your own ideas on these issues? Let us know.