There are 46,000 youth in juvenile prisons, 5,000 youth in adult prisons; and an additional 12,000 unaccompanied youth are confined in shelters and juvenile justice facilities as a result of being in custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Approximately 10,300 youth are incarcerated for status offenses and probation violations that are not even considered crimes for adults.
Although incarceration rates have declined by almost 50% since 2003, the US still incarcerates more children than any other nation, with a youth incarceration rate that is five times that of the next highest country.
