For some of the latest research and information on issues facing young men and boys of color, we invite you to explore the following recently published research and policy reports.
Exclusionary School Discipline: An Issue Brief and Review of the Literature
In this brief, we review data on the major trends in school discipline practices with a focus on out-of-school suspensions and expulsions. We then describe the most widely used alternatives to out-of-school (exclusionary) suspension and expulsion in California and assess the relevant research to gauge the potential of each to improve school and student level outcomes.
Fast Facts: The Status of Boys and Men of Color (National and California)
(Download)
This two page fact sheet provides a list of data points on the status of boys and men of color in the areas of education, workforce engagement, juvenile and criminal justice involvement, violence and trauma, and family and community health.
Every Child: A Strategy for Education Equity and Excellence
(Download)
Using the latest research the recently released report For Every Child: A Strategy for Education Equity and Excellence is a call-to-action to address our nation’s destructive educational disparities. The report summarizes how America’s K-12 education system, taken as a whole, fails our nation and too many of our children. The commission’s report provides a five-part framework of tightly interrelated recommendations to guide policymaking: 1) Equitable School Finance systems so that a child’s critical opportunities are not a function of his or her zip code; 2) Teachers, Principals and Curricula effective enough to provide children with the opportunity to thrive in a changing world; 3) Early Childhood Education with an academic focus, to narrow the disparities in readiness when kids reach kindergarten; 4) Mitigating Poverty’s Effects with broad access not only to early childhood education, but also to a range of support services necessary to promote student success and family engagement in school; 5) Accountability and Governance reforms to make clearer who is responsible for what, attach consequences to performance, and ensure that national commitments to equity and excellence are reflected in results on the ground, not just in speeches during campaigns.
The Federal Secure Communities Program and Young Men of Color in California
(Download)
As the state with the largest foreign-born population, California has been on the front lines of many immigration issues and is currently facing a deepening crisis because of federal enforcement policies, specifically a program named Secure Communities.
Secure Communities is a program in which fingerprints of individuals detained by local police are collected at county jails and sent to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for an immigration check in addition to the usual criminal background checks with the FBI. This program, active in all California jails, has snared hundreds of thousands of men of color, many of whom are eventually deported for relatively minor infractions, leaving behind children, spouses, parents and other close family members.
This data brief examines the special challenges faced by immigrant boys, young men, and their families caught in the crosshairs of U.S. immigration policy and politics. It provides one of the first data-informed analyses of the impact of the Secure Communities program on men of color in California.
Improving Juvenile Justice Policy in California: A Closer Look at Transfer Laws’ Impact on Young Men and Boys of Color
(Download)
This brief takes a deeper look at juvenile transfer laws in California, exploring the circumstances under which they evolved, how they impact youth of color, and whether they indeed improve public safety and reduce recidivism. It concludes with recommendations and examples of promising approaches.
Realignment: A Bold New Era in California Corrections
(Download)
Public Safety Realignment is an enormously important change to the criminal justice system in California that involves a shift of governmental responsibilities from state government to county governments for the handling of non-violent, non-serious and non-sex offenders as well as a large number of parolees from the state correctional system.
As California’s 58 counties take on the task of implementing local plans to handle this influx of newly convicted offenders, there is a significant opportunity for them to creative innovative, efficient and effective systems that mark a bold shift in the way corrections have been undertaken in California. This brief provides a brief overview of the reasons for realignment, its challenges, and key steps for making local county plans a success.
Resources from the California Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color (held August 17th, 2011 in Sacramento, California)
Issue Briefs (Download)
Five policy issue briefs focused on the topics of Health, Education, Safety, Youth Development and Employment were distributed by the Assembly Select Committee. Each issue brief includes a section with the latest statistical facts about boys and young men of color, followed by sections describing policy intervention points and policy solutions that can make a difference.
Hearing Agenda (Download)
The annotated hearing agenda lists speakers and topics covered during the 6-hour hearing.
Speakers (Download)
Brief bios for all 22 hearing speakers.
How Neighborhoods Influence the Health and Success of Boys and Young Men of Color, Presentation and Handout, May 2011
In May 2011 the Warren Institute presented some of the latest research on how neighborhoods impact the health and economic opportunity of boys and young men of color. The presentation reviews research describing the inequitable “geography of child opportunity”, how neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage impair child cognitive development, and how growing up in a disadvantaged neighborhood stunts economic opportunity for a lifetime. The presentation closes with a few evidence-based policy and program strategies for addressing the health and economic opportunities for boys and young men of color.
Download the PDF version of the Presentation
Download the PowerPoint version of the Presentation
Download the Handout with detailed citations for all research
The Consequences of Structural Racism, Concentrated Poverty and Violence on Young Men and Boys of Color, April 2011
(Download)
Carol Silverman, Michael Sumner, and Mary Louise Frampton; Henderson Center for Social Justice at the U.C. Berkeley School of Law
This brief examines the broader structural and institutional elements that research implicates as the root causes of violence among boys and young men of color. It includes policy solutions and emerging and promising practices that respond to the primacy of broader structural issues, including structural racism. The brief also highlights organizations seeking to change conditions in their communities.
The Health Home: An Approach for Improving Health Outcomes for Boys and Young Men of Color, February 2011
(Download)
Christian D. Phillips, Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security, UC Berkeley School of Law
Along with a short overview of health disparities faced by boys and young men of color, this 11-page research brief defines the concept of a “health home” and provides an in-depth discussion of several of the primary models employed in health home projects around the country. The brief includes a list of best practices drawn from existing models and provides a set of recommendations.
Reparable Harm: Assessing and Addressing Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California, 2009
(Download)
The RAND Corporation
Looking at the data available on boys and young men of color, The RAND Corporation analyzed four broad areas associated with the health outcomes facing boys and men of color. Using a “social determinants” of health frame, they found that the odds for boys and men of color are far worse than they are for white boys and men across all of the areas examined. Using this same “social determinants” frame, they also point to recommendations that can begin to address these disparities.
Building Equalizing Schools within Inclusive Communities: Strategies that Redirect the School to Prison Pipeline in the Classroom and Beyond, 2010
(Download)
The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School
Drawing on the most robust research available, the Houston Institute examined how neighborhoods where African-American and Latino children live, and the schools they attend, directly contribute to the poor health outcomes they experience. The report also offers specific recommendations and highlights promising remedies that align with their analysis.
Healing the Hurt: Trauma-Informed Approaches to the Health of Boys and Young Men of Color, 2010
(Download)
The Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice at Drexel University’s School of Public Health and The Department of Emergency Medicine at Drexel University
After analyzing the role of trauma in the lives of Latino and African-American boys and young men, Drexel University outlines how a trauma-informed approach to the issues these young men and boys face can improve their health. They discovered that not only is trauma seldom explored by the systems assigned to help African-American and Latino boys and young men, but that these institutions often take a punitive approach to these traumatized boys precisely when they need them the most.
The Promise of a Healthy California: Overcoming the Barriers for Men and Boys of Color, 2010
(Download)
PolicyLink
PolicyLink assessed the context of California’s systemic failures when it comes to the health of young men and boys of color. They examined the process to develop public will for change and the need for place-based solutions. Finally, their report highlights successful practices and makes recommendations for policy change and interventions.