Kids should not be kept behind bars – that’s the message of a new report examining the ineffectiveness of youth prisons in Michigan and other states.

The research from the Annie E. Casey Foundation pulls together evidence of the failings of youth correctional facilities and recommends they all be closed.

Casey president and C-E-O Patrick McCarthy says these prisons have high recidivism rates and do not improve long-term outcomes for youth. He calls them "factories of failure."

"These institutions fail at protecting the community, they fail at turning young lives around, they are unconscionably expensive, they are prone to abuse, they defy reform and the bottom line is we have alternatives. "

McCarthy notes there is an enormous financial toll for youth prisons. He says states pay on average about $90,000 dollars a year for every youth in a juvenile facility.