Florida spends second to least in survey of Juvenile incarceration costs.

The state of Florida ranked second to last in a survey of what 45 states spend on incarcerating juveniles.

Florida spends $55,407 annually on each of its jailed youths. That number seems like a lot, but it was actually the second lowest, behind Louisiana, of all states surveyed.

Fifty-five thousand dollars to lock up a juvenile for a year. Holy Cow! And that’s low!!! What a huge industry!According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary in Florida is $41,140. So it costs about 25% more to incarcerate a kid than most people make.!

And how about the other costs? The article continues to say that, “The long-term costs of incarcerating youth, the study said, include fewer tax dollars collected from young people who earn lower wages after being convicted, and creating a greater dependence on government assistance and higher rates of recidivism. The authors said research shows the experience of being jailed increases the likelihood that young people will commit a new offense, rather than deterring such behavior. And while a 2008 survey of 9,000 sampled youth nationwide showed that 67 percent finished high school, only 32 percent of convicted youth and 18 percent of confined youth ever graduated.”

Alright… so it’s super-expensive, doesn’t reduce recidivism and has long-term collateral consequences to the children.

Next,A lawsuit filed by four prison investigators claims Florida’s prison system is badly mismanaged and the results have been deadly.