Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

(Photo Source)

There are two recent reports that I read that I think are linked in a way that displays that cyclical and systemic nature of poverty in our society.  They also reminded me of the Monopoly Chance card that sends you to jail, but more about that later!

MinnPost today had an article titled, Closing graduation gap for minority students: Putting a price tag on a high school diploma, which discussed how fixing the disproportionate dropout rate among students of color in Minnesota could ultimately be the economic stimulus we need, and be the basis of a stable economy in the future.  

The article says that, "if even half the nation's 600,000 high-school dropouts from the class of 2008 had graduated, that diploma would translate into $2.3 billion in increased earnings in an average year."  According to the Minnesota Kids Count Data Book 2009, the 2005 graduation rate among Black students was 39%, and there there was a 45 percentage point difference in the Black-White graduation gap.  Without a high school diploma, young adults have even less of a chance of getting a job, especially when you consider the extremely competitive job market we are experiencing.  Without employment, it is easy to fall into a cycle of poverty and crime.

Which brings me to the second report I read from the National Juvenile Justice Network, The Real Costs and Benefits of Change: Finding Opportunities for Reform During Difficult Fiscal Times. This report discusses how "several states have saved money by investing in alternatives to detention such as community- based treatment and other evidence-based programs."  These programs better equip youth for a future without crime than does detention, which can actually have an adverse effect on the incarcerated youth.  In fact, the report says:

Youth who have been incarcerated are more likely to recidivate than youth who are supervised in a community-based setting. Between 1997 and 2006, seven of the 10 states that reduced the number of youth in confinement actually had drops in the total number of violent offenses reported to law enforcement. Transfer to the adult system further increases the chance that a youth will recidivate when released. Transferred juveniles are 33.7 percent more likely to be re-arrested for a violent or other crime than juveniles who commit the same level of offense, but are retained in the juvenile justice system.

This idea is not necessarily new; JRLC and iCAN have been advocating for a similar system in Minnesota since the early 1970's.  In our 1993 compilation position paper on Juvenile Justice we state that Minnesota should "establish and fund more community treatment centers that provide special intensive treatment programs as an alternative to institutionalization."

So to get back to the Monopoly card, allowing our high school dropout rate to remain where it is, especially for minority communities, can be like giving our young people a Go Directly to Jail card.  And if our justice system is not supportive in a way that allows them to become full and active citizens upon leaving the system, then we never let them pass go or get their $200, and right now, we all need that $200.

Rachel Herzfeldt-Kamprath
Advocacy Associate