American Indian youth are being arrested at two to three times the national average, says a report from the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ), released July 13th, 2000.

American Indian youth, who make up 1% of the nation’s population, are being arrested for some offenses – motor vehicle theft (2%) and liquor law violations (3%), for example – at double or triple the rates statistically expected.

“The difference between one and two percent might not seem very large,” says David Doe, Executive Director for CJJ. “The human reality, though, is quite staggering.”

The statistics exclude arrests by tribal police or reservation security forces, and seem to support arguments from activists who claim American Indian youth are being targeted by local, state, and federal authorities.

Unlike other youth population groups, these youth are frequently kept in jails hundreds of miles away from family and friends. Federal authorities, turning a joy ride into a federal prison record, prosecute some crimes committed on the reservation even if the offender has already been convicted in a tribal court. The federal prison system has no youth detention facilities, forcing kids into prisons with adults.

The report, entitled “Enlarging the Healing Circle,” warns that multi-generational problems of alcoholism, depression, and gamgs are putting American Indian youth on a disastrous course.

The report calls for more funding for mental health services such as treatment for depression and alcoholism and family intervention programs to break the cycle.

Alcoholism, a major problem on reservations across the country, is pointed to as one of the root causes plaguing American Indians. 3% of all juveniles arrested nationwide for alcohol law violations are American Indian.