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Advocates urge reform of state's juvenile justice system Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Too many non-violent youth offenders are being locked up unnecessarily in expensive and sometimes harmful state custody rather than being offered community treatment services that could keep them close to home and out of jail, according to a report released Tuesday by child advocacy groups. The report recommends that the population at the Alexander Juvenile Correction Facility be reduced by two-thirds and that the troubled youth lockup eventually be closed. It suggested replacing the Alexander unit with one or two smaller therapeutic facilities with no more than 40 beds each. "This report points out what advocates across the state clearly understand, that the Arkansas juvenile justice system is at a crossroads," Paul Kelly, senior policy analyst for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, said at a Capitol news conference. The 57-page report, commissioned by the Disability Rights Center and the National Center for Youth Law, was prepared by Tim Roche, former executive director of the Justice Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., and Kelly Dedel, a criminal justice consultant based in Portland, Ore. It said about 30 percent of the 140 juveniles at Alexander should not have been placed there in the first place. The correctional facility is where the state's most violent youths are sent. Last week, officials told state lawmakers that as many as 20 percent of first-offenders in state youth services are committed by juvenile judges for misdemeanors. "Such youth are misplaced in a high-security facility such as Alexander and would benefit from thoughtful, individualized programming and supervision in their home communities," Tuesday's report said. "Many of the youth at Alexander are seriously mentally ill, emotionally disturbed and/or developmentally disabled youth who struggle to comply with facility regulations while suffering near-constant torment by other youths, as well as some staff," the report said. Dana McClain with the Disability Rights Center said the report should be used as a road map for developing a plan of action to improve the state's juvenile justice system. "For over 100 years, Arkansans have struggled with how to address the needs of our children who get into trouble with the law," she said. "Because it is time for us to come up with solutions, we have joined forces with other concerned advocates and asked juvenile justice experts to help us and the Division of Youth Services to change our approach, for the sake of our troubled youth and, ultimately, for the safety of our communities." McClain said a DYS task force on mental health services is to meet today and hear from Tim Decker, director of the Missouri juvenile justice system, which she said has made drastic improvements in recent years. DYS Director Ron Angel attended Tuesday's press conference and welcomed the report. "We look forward to working with the advocacy community, the Legislature, judges, families, community providers and others to rebuild our justice system so it is one that truly helps the youth entrusted to our care." Angel said he is working on a plan that would provide juvenile judges across the state with a list of options they could consider when deciding the fate of a juvenile, especially those taken into custody for the first time. The options would include a list of social service organizations in the community and programs that might help the juvenile. State Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant, said he hopes to file legislation during the 2009 session to address issues raised in the report and those recommended by a legislative task force created during this year's session. He said that task force, which will look at the state's juvenile justice system, is just now being formed and could start meeting later this year. Broadway said he was open to the recommendation for closure of the Alexander facility, which is in his district. "I want to look at all options ... but you are always going to have some individuals who are going to have to be incarcerated. The question is where should you confine them?" Broadway said. Also speaking at the new conference was Pulaski County Juvenile Judge Wiley Branton, who was critical of the report because juvenile judges were not consulted. Many areas of the state also don't have the necessary community services needed to help juveniles, Branton said, adding that many juvenile judges see sending youths to the Alexander facility as a last resort. "I'm concerned that if you read this report you get the impression that judges are just wholesale sending kids to (Alexander). That's not what's happening," he said. |
