| Trenton,
N.J. -- The Juvenile Justice Commission
should establish uniform statewide operating
procedures to prevent the artificial boosting
of county youth center populations on the
single day during the year that determines
education funding for the centers, an Office
of Government Integrity report recommends
to the Attorney General.
The
OGI report was prepared following an investigation
into allegations that senior management
at the Camden County Youth Center had illegally
detained a number of juveniles on “Census
Day’’ in October 2004 in order
to increase state funding for its educational
programs. The report was delivered yesterday
to Acting Attorney General Anne Milgram.
The
report concludes that the state could not
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Camden
County Youth Center officials had broken
any laws in detaining participants in the
Youth Center’s electronic monitoring
program for the purpose of increasing their
population count to attain more state funding.
In addition, the report states there was
no evidence that any officials illegally
intimidated or discriminated against the
juveniles who were detained.
OGI
found that neither the courts, the state,
nor the county had ever promulgated any
specific rules or standard operating procedures
governing the electronic monitoring program.
There were conflicting interpretations on
how to categorize the temporary detentions
of juveniles participating in the electronic
monitoring program, the report states.
The
Department of Education determines state
funding for educational programs at county
detention facilities based on the center’s
census on October 15. Facilities receive
$9,000 per detainee. The Camden County Youth
Center’s population temporarily rose
by approximately 30 juveniles within a three
day period leading up to the census day,
according to the report. Fifteen of the
additional juveniles were participating
in the electronic monitoring program.
OGI
recommended that the Juvenile Justice Commission
develop policies to prevent artificial population
increases in connection to Count Day. The
determination of state aid based on one
day’s population encourages the facilities
to increase their populations on and around
that specific date, the report states.
OGI
also recommended that the JJC develop and
implement statewide standards to govern
the monitoring program in order to eliminate
confusion regarding the legality and proper
procedures for taking into custody juveniles
in an electronic monitoring program.
In
addition, OGI recommended that Camden County
provide additional training to ensure that
juvenile detention officers and management
understand the scope of their responsibilities
in the electronic monitoring program.
Acting
Attorney General Milgram said she planned
to forward the OGI report to the Juvenile
Justice Commission and said she expected
swift action on the recommendations.
>
View
OGI Report on Camden Youth Center
(302K pdf) plug-in
> Office
of Government Integrity Web Site
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