Orange County

Growing up as a small child in a small town in the Mexican state of Morelos, Angel Lee Woolsey remembers the flurry of activity that would mark the annual celebration of Dia de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.

In the past few years, we’ve learned a lot of ugly truths about the criminal justice system. (By “we,” I mean, those of us who are white and middle class. Poor people and people of color have known all along.)

As evidence mounts that punitive discipline makes students more likely to go to prison than to college, school districts in greater Los Angeles, including Long Beach Unified and Lynwood Unified, are shifting away from suspending students or citing them for truancy.

Focus on the Figures is a regular partnership between The Imprint and KidsData.org, a nonprofit dedicated to providing data on the health and well-being of California’s children. The U.S. foster care system is structured to provide temporary, safe living arrangements and therapeutic services for children who cannot remain safely at home due to child maltreatment or for children whose parents are unable to provide adequate care.