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Juvenile Justice Coalition
Public Policy
Background Paper
August 18, 1998
 
Background

The Juvenile Justice Coalition welcomes public scrutiny of Georgia's juvenile justice system. This new attention has been brought about because of the recent report and subsequent monitoring of the state's Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) by the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice (DoJ). The report identified many civil rights violations by the DJJ in secure facilities throughout the state. Georgia must move toward increased early intervention, safe and responsible detention, and increased transitional services for adjudicated children and youth.

The purpose of this paper is to present a sensible approach to addressing the problems raised in the DoJ report. We have watched with alarm the high failure rate of DJJ secure confinement programs. The Georgia statute, which established DJJ called for a department, directed toward prevention, intervention, and aftercare, that is sensitive to the needs of children and youth. However, since the inception of the Department, new legislation has moved away from community-based programming and directed it toward increased incarceration. The Coalition believes that the primary responsibility of the Department is rehabilitating youngsters who come into their system.

Prevention and Intervention

To state it is simply, prevention and early intervention work. A Syracuse, New York Family Development Research Program1 reduced delinquency by 91 percent when parent training, home visits, early-childhood education and other services were provided on a continuing basis to high-risk families. Just ten years after the children began elementary school only one had been charged with serious delinquency and only 6% had even been reported "ungovernable" to juvenile authorities. Of those who had not received services, nearly one in five were charged with offenses. At age 15, nearly one in ten were already "chronic offenders."

In order to prevent juvenile crime, Georgia must:

Take a Whole Family Approach. The majority of children in detention come from families who are identified as troubled. Younger siblings of youth in detention follow in the footsteps of their older brothers and sisters. Our current system does not address the needs of the entire family along with the specific problems of individuals within the family. Children often mimic what they see from a violent homes and offenses may be committed as a means of survival (stealing for income, running away from a violent or abusive home).

In the High/Scope Perry Preschool study2, three and four year olds were randomly divided into a control group and a group participating in a quality preschool program with a weekly home visit aimed at teaching their parents child-rearing skills. Years later, when these toddlers were 27 years-old, a comparison of arrest records for the two groups found that the program had cut arrests rates in half; and cut "chronic offender rates for males from nearly one in two to less than one in eight." This study showed that every dollar invested in prevention saved $7.16 in the cost of crime.

A goal of DJJ and the State should be to provide more appropriate services and support to families so that parents will be able to better maintain their children in their own homes.

Action Item: Secure funding through the legislature for family support services for children at-risk of committing delinquent acts. Target Resources. We know how to identify juveniles at-risk of delinquency. Identifying them maximizes targeting of resources. A Sacramento, California Child Welfare Leaque of America (CWLA) study3 found that 96 percent of 10 year olds who have committed three offenses and 61 percent of one-time offenders will break the law again. Targeting resources toward prevention and early intervention programs can be a cost- effective means of protecting public safety. Action Item: Secure funding for prevention programs targeting children at-risk of committing delinquent acts. Reduce the Caseload of court workers from 1:85 to 1:35. If the needs of troubled families are to be addressed and early intervention is to become a reality, Georgia must provide DJJ with sufficient resources. The Department must hire more juvenile probation and parole specialists (JPPSs) and provide them with better wages and working conditions if the State is to retain the best and brightest staff.

JPPSs can play a vital part in reducing recidivism by involving the family and community, and maintaining personal involvement with child. With current caseloads in Georgia running an average of 85 to a high of 150 youths per case worker, only those youth in severe crisis receive any attention. In San Francisco4, a dramatic reduction in recidivism occurred upon the implementation of a similar program, reducing recidivism rates from 48% to 24%.

Action Item: Secure funding for additional court workers to reduce caseloads. Mental Health Services. DJJ has identified that 65 percent of the youth in their custody need mental health services. A large percentage of children being treated for mental health problems eventually find themselves involved with the juvenile justice system. Mental health agencies must receive sufficient funding to appropriately staff their facilities. A thorough screening/assessment process must be developed for these adjudicated youth. Follow up of counseling and medication recommendations by mental health professionals and parents must occur. Action Item: Secure funding to provide for the mental health needs of youth in custody. Involve Community-Based Groups in mentoring youth. The Department of Juvenile Justice has done little to foster involvement by civic and church groups in the intervention of youth crime. We must build the connection between youth and the community through adult participation in youth programs. It is the responsibility of the community to serve those youth that are at risk of incarceration.

Boston attributes much of what is referred to as the "Boston Miracle5" to collaborative groups. Statewide programs that help build these relationships are inexpensive, but effective.

Action Item: Advocates will facilitate organizations and corporations in mentoring programs for juvenile offenders. After-School Programs. Most juvenile crime occurs between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. Not surprisingly, these are the hours that parents are not home. After-school programs can offer tutorial help, mentoring, recreational activities and supervision for middle and high school age youth.

The 3:00 Project11 is also popular among students, parents, teachers, and advocates. This initiative provides a safe environment for children during their out of school time. Additionally, it encourages collaboration within the community. Nearly 94% of parents agreed that the 3:00 Project reduced their children's exposure to high-risk situations. Thus, students are much less likely to be involved in dangerous situations.

Action Item: Georgia will expand it 3:00 programs statewide for children at-risk of adjudication. Building Public Awareness. Juvenile crime does not take place in a vacuum. Communities, families, schools, churches, civic groups, and public agencies must get involved in reducing juvenile crime. Educating the public is important to involving citizens in taking responsibility for young people. Action Items: Advocacy groups will provide community groups with information about ways to reduce juvenile delinquency and about  prevention programs that work..   Detention

Georgia's policy should be addressing public safety and long term habilitation for troubled children and youth. Public safety is not addressed when a child is harmed by incarceration or is more likely to re-offend, or denied basic human rights. The most effective lockups are those that treat children humanely and appropriately, remembering that they are children, and preparing them for the future.

If we are to lock kids up, then what kind of facilities do we need to have? What should be their purpose? What should happen in these facilities while the children are there? Does the military style camp philosophy of "tearing kids down and building them back up work with children?"  These are the questions that need public debate. Georgia's juvenile facilities must include:

Quality Assessment. Children are placed in detention facilities, boot camps, and community programs with little or no evaluation or assessments. Children should be placed in facilities that are best able to address their needs. A treatment plan and a risk assessment should be done for every adjudicated juvenile.

No child under the age of thirteen should be sent to a boot camp. Children with physical and emotional problems should never be sent to boot camp. The developmental needs of young children can not be addressed in a military-style setting. The family and the environment from which the child comes must be thoroughly assessed so that the child's discharge from boot camp can be most effective.

Research over the last ten years on military-style boot camps for juveniles have yielded universally poor results and outcomes. The department's own statistics reflect the poor outcomes from 90 day programs. A1995 DJJ Study on Recidivism Rates5 reveals that fully 75% of the youth in these programs will re-offend within three years.

Action Item: Legislation will be developed to require assessments to determine what is the most appropriate placement for each juvenile in DJJ custody. Community-Based Programs. Most juveniles ultimately return to their communities and to their previous homes and caretakers. It is important to maintain contact with their families, friends, and institutions. Access to community based resources should be available to the families during and after their children's stay in detention facilities. Our youth detention facilities should be located near their communities.

Community based residential programs can provide a wide range of services, including detention, family training and support, transitional services, volunteer services coordination, community development and mental health services. Intensive Supervision programs offered under DJJ are more cost effective alternative than lock up programs. The 1995 study5 revealed that they had a recidivism rate of 45% compared to a 73.9% recidivism rate for Youth Development Camps (YDC). These rates measured youth committing the same offenses. The cost of Intensive Supervision was $12.50 per day compared to $99 per day for YDCs.

Residential Programs such as contract homes (foster homes), group homes, specialized residential services, and wilderness programs offer cost effective options to traditional lock up facilities. These programs, when based in the local community, allow greater involvement of the child's family in the rehabilitation effort. The State's commitment to building their way out of overcrowding problems is a misguided one. Funding for alternative placements should take priority over funding for additional detention facilities. The same Department of Children and Youth Services (DCYS) now known as DJJ, 1995 study on Recidivism Rates6 reveals that community based programs such as Outdoor Therapeutic Programs are more effective than state operated facilites. Their recidivism rates were 50.0% compared to 73.9% for state operated programs.

The Georgia Code allows judges to recommend alternative placements but because dollars are not appropriated for these placements, there are few. Program cost effectiveness in protecting public safety, ensuring adequate and appropriate care, and protecting civil rights should be considered when expending public dollars for placements for juvenile offenders. Both residential and non-residential programs are alternatives to placement in a YDC. Services such as wrap-around and multi-systemic therapy are non-residential programs that yield high success rates with juvenile offenders. The Coalition recommends the use of less restrictive alternatives.

Action Item: The Legislative Budget Language will allow DJJ flexibility to privatize and create alternative placements for juveniles in communities. Mental Health Coverage. A DJJ study7 prepared by Emory University has asserted that over 65% of the population in detention are in need of mental health services. The mental health problems of these children combined with the lack of adequate community-based treatment is a leading contributor of delinquent behavior. Studies have shown that mental health treatment can reduce a child's contact with the juvenile justice system and prevent the child from re-offending. Mental health services should be a high priority for all children both involved and at risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system. Additionally, all children who are status offenders, on probation, parole, in need of supervision, incarcerated in short-term detention, in boot camps, or incarcerated in state facilities need to have screening, assessment, and access to treatment. Treatment for substance abuse, sexual abuse, sexual offending, learning problems, health problems, victimization and trauma all ought to be provided. Action Item: (1) Secure adequate funding for mental health treatment so that DJJ can develop policies which will require the provision of comprehensive mental health assessment and coverage of all juveniles. (2) DJJ shall specify appropriate staff ratios and qualifications for: Caseworkers
Mental Health Workers
Medical Personnel
Detention Officers   Education and Vocational Training. DJJ is certified as a state school district. Because of the lack of resources they have not been able to realize the potential of this distinction. Children should recieve a quality education for all grade levels.  Children should be prepared for work or to continue their education. Action Item: The Legislature, through the Department of Education Budget, will provide adequate funding to develop and implement an Individual Education Plan for each child eligible for special education. Staffing. Severe staff shortages and a lack of trained and qualified employees unable to care for the special needs juveniles in their facilities must be addressed. Zero tolerance of abuse of youth by staff in detention must be incorporated into DJJ policy. Action Item: DJJ will develop and enforce policies, which provides zero tolerance for child abuse and mistreatment. Monitoring. Public accountability needs to be expanded in the DJJ. Georgia needs an independent Ombudsman program to handle complaints by the children to address this need. An Ombudsman program could be established by the Legislature, which is separate or independent from the Juvenile Justice Department. Texas has a program where Ombudsmen are stationed in each state juvenile facility. These Ombudsmen are not supervised by anyone in the facility but report directly to the state's juvenile board on infractions and complaints. Another program to assist in monitoring and quality assurance could be a "next friend" program. It could be set up to assist the monitor in speaking directly for incarcerated youth. An outside group to review and advise the Department on conditions of confinement and its use of force policy should be established. The Council for Juvenile Correctional Administrators would be a logical choice. Action Item: Establish an independent citizen's review board for DJJ. The Board should be authorized to: Review all grievances and investigations.
Strengthen the mechanisms for disciplining staff for abuse and
mistreatment.
Institute an independent Ombudsman program for youth and their families.   Transitional Services Numerous studies point to the importance of transitional services in reducing recidivism in youth. The following services are needed in Georgia:

Supportive Services to Families and Children. Work with families must begin before the juvenile is released from detention and continue after the child is released. Families represent the first line of defense against juveniles committing new offenses. Families need to be equipped and supported in order to help their children.

Charleston, S.C. implemented a similar program with remarkable results. South Carolina's Family and Neighborhood Services Program 8 targeted serious offenders, averaging over three prior arrests and nearly ten weeks of prior incarceration. Over half had been previously arrested for a violent crime. Therapists were assigned small family caseloads and deal with the child's interaction with family, school, peers, and neighborhood. The result of the program was youth in the program had less than one third the incarceration rates, and just over half as many arrests as a control group.

Action Item: Secure funding in the State Budget to support the creation of Transition Programs for youth.
  Community Involvement. Children need to be linked with community institutions that can provide transitional services, after-school programming, probation assistance, mentoring and tutoring. A Public/Private Ventures study9 of the impact of Big Brothers/Big Sisters mentoring program in eight cities showed that young people without mentors were twice as likely to start using drugs. Among minority youth, those without mentors were nearly three times as likely to start using drugs. The study also showed that children without mentors were more likely to start using alcohol, and used hitting as a way to settle disputes twice as often as Little Bothers/Little Sisters. Action Item: Advocates will facilitate organizations and corporations in mentorship programs for juvenile offenders. Better Use of Probation. Reduction of caseloads will assist with the reduction of recidivism, as well as aid in prevention. Outcome measures of transitional services with an emphasis on reduction in recidivism should be encouraged. The South Carolina Project10 is a model of what can happen with effective use of probation. Recidivism rates can be cut by over half. Action Item: DJJ will develop policies to move to outcome based programs. Notes:

1Ronald Lally, Peter L. Mangione, Alice S. Honig, and Donna S. Wittmer, "More Pride Less Delinquency: Findings from the Ten-year Follow-up Study of the Syracuse University Family Developmental Research Program", in the The Zero to Three Child Care Anthology, 1984-1992, (Arlington: Zero to Three, 1992), pp. 95-103.

2 Lawrence J. Schweinhart, helen B. Barnes, and David P. Weikart, Significant Benefits: The High/Schope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 27, High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, High/Scope Press Michigan. 1993, pp. xvii-xviii. 84-87.

3 "The Sacramento Study", Child Welfare League of America, Washington, D.C., June 1997

4 Randall G. Shelden, "An Assessment of the Detention Diversion Advocacy Project", Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nevada-Las Vegas October 6, 1997, p.6.

5 Ralph C. Martin, "Partnerships and communication are keys to Boston's juvenile success" in Common Ground, November, 1997

6DCYS, "Department of Children and Youth Services Recidivism Rates, Report on Calendar Year 1990 Terminations from Custody", February, 1997,p 9.

7 Emory University,

8 Scott W. Henggeler, Linda Smith and Gary Melton. "Family Preservation Using Multisystemic Therapy: An Effective Alternative to Incarcerating Serious Juvenile Offenders", The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60:6(1) 953-961.

9 Joseph P. Tierney and Jean Baldwin Grossman with Nancy L. Resch, "Making A Difference: An Impact Study of Big Brothers/Big Sisters." a Public/Private Ventures research paper, 1995, pp. 31-35.

10 Scott W. Henggeler, Linda Smith and Gary Melton. "Family Preservation Using Multisystemic Therapy: An Effective Alternative to Incarcerating Serious Juvenile Offenders", The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60:6(1) 953-961.

11 Anne Marie Carlisi, Ph.D., "The 3:00 Project: Program Evaluation 1996-1997." Georgia School Age Care Association, January 1998, p. 5.