Original LinkEDITORIAL: Juvenile jail loss is gainTimes-Picayune
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Before Hurricane Katrina, youngsters in New Orleans who committed petty crimes were locked up in juvenile detention centers, places where they sometimes forged relationships with more hardened young offenders.
But that's no longer the case. Flooding shut down both juvenile detention centers that were used to house 10- to 16-year-olds while they awaited trial. Instead of rebuilding those centers, the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, the New Orleans Police Department and agencies that work with youth decided to try a new approach, one that stresses alternatives to locking up kids.
That's a wiser course -- one that the state of Louisiana finally turned to in 2003 when it adopted legislation meant to transform a troubled juvenile justice system from one that relied almost solely on incarceration to one that stressed rehabilitation and alternatives to jail.
If New Orleans were to rebuild the detention centers, that would likely mean a continuing reliance on them. The first months after Katrina bear out that theory. The city rented beds in other facilities, and they were kept full.
But Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Chief Judge David Bell called for officials to take a harder look at who was being sent to detention centers. The Juvenile Court judges met with other officials who serve youth and with the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The result is a far more nuanced approach to detention. Now, a child who is arrested is sent to the Police Department's juvenile division intake, where a screener assesses a risk level. Those accused of a crime against a person, carrying a handgun or dealing drugs are still put into detention.
But two-thirds of children who are arrested are accused of nonviolent, mostly petty offenses, according to police. Under the new system, those youngsters are released to parents or guardians to await court dates unless there's trouble at home or the youngster has a long criminal record. Those who are sent home are supervised through electronic monitoring and frequent, non-scheduled visits by court personnel.
That's not only less expensive, it also makes more sense than confining children who've committed misdemeanors like loitering and trespassing with those who are involved in far more serious crime.
Judge Bell cited a Justice Policy Institute study that found 70 percent of detained youth were either arrested again or returned to detention within a year. A National Institutes of Health study also found that incarceration makes youngsters more likely to reoffend.
The goal of juvenile court is to straighten youngsters out, not to grow the next crop of criminals. New Orleans officials deserve credit for realizing the shortcomings of the juvenile system and seizing an opportunity to reform.
Beyond that, it's refreshing to see one piece of the city's criminal justice system, which has been foundering since the storm, working together effectively and initiating bold change.
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