|
TRENTON
- The New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission
(JJC) has released the Juvenile Detention
Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) Annual Data
Report for 2006 which shows that a joint
initiative of the New Jersey Judiciary,
the JJC and numerous county agencies is
safely reducing the unnecessary use of secure
detention for New Jersey’s youth.
The report documents annual trends in the
use of county-operated juvenile detention
centers in five pilot sites in Atlantic,
Camden, Essex, Hudson and Monmouth counties.
“Due to the Juvenile Detention Alternatives
Initiative, New Jersey continues to make
great strides in reducing the unnecessary
use of juvenile detention, while maintaining
community safety,” said Howard L.
Beyer, the executive director of the Juvenile
Justice Commission. “JDAI is a partnership.
By working together, we will continue to
examine and improve our juvenile justice
system and expand the reach of JDAI to five
additional counties this year.’’
Judge
Philip S. Carchman, Acting Administrative
Director of the Courts, said, “The
Judiciary is committed to fair treatment
for juveniles charged with offenses. Juveniles
should not be locked up before they get
a court hearing unless it’s for the
community’s safety. Through JDAI we
find alternative ways to monitor these juveniles
while their cases are making their way to
court. In addition, we expedite the process,
serving the interests of both the juvenile
and the public.”
In April 2004, New Jersey was selected as
an official replication site for the Annie
E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention
Alternatives Initiative and awarded $200,000
by the foundation. As the lead agency, the
JJC worked in partnership with the Judiciary
and other state and local agencies to create
a state steering committee to guide the
initiative statewide. Each participating
county also has a local steering committee
that relies on collaboration, leadership,
and data to make improvements in the county
juvenile detention system.
Juvenile
detention is a temporary placement of a
youth accused of a delinquent act, while
awaiting the final outcome of his or her
case in court. The purpose of detention
is to house youths who, by virtue of alleged
offenses or documented prior histories,
pose a serious public safety or flight risk.
A
primary goal of JDAI is to make sure that
secure detention is in fact used only for
this purpose – to ensure serious and
chronic youthful offenders are detained,
and that effective alternatives are available
for other youth who can be safely supervised
in the community while awaiting final court
disposition. The initiative provides a framework
of strategies that help reduce the inappropriate
use of secure juvenile detention, while
maintaining public safety and court appearance
rates. A major focus of the work is reducing
the disparate use of detention for minority
youth.
The
Juvenile Justice Commission and its partners
are expanding the initiative to Bergen,
Burlington, Mercer, Ocean and Union counties
over the next year.
The report prepared by the JJC’s Office
of Local Programs and Services found that
on any given day in 2006, across JDAI sites,
there were 215 fewer youth in detention
centers compared to 2003, representing a
decrease of more than 43% (284 youth in
2006 compared to 499 youth in 2003). Minority
youth account for 93% of this reduction,
with 199 fewer youth of color in secure
detention on any given day. In addition,
the disparity in the length of stay has
also been reduced so that across JDAI sites,
minority youth no longer remain in detention
an average of twice of long as white youth.
While
all sites experienced decreases, Essex,
Camden, and Monmouth have seen the most
substantial and sustained changes, with
daily populations reduced by about half
in each site. As a result of these decreases,
detention centers that used to operate beyond
rated capacity are now right-sized. Essex
and Monmouth have not housed a child in
an overcrowded facility since 2003 and 2004,
respectively. Since the end of 2006, Camden
has been consistently reporting daily counts
at or below capacity.
Consistent with the goal of ensuring that
detention is used for the more serious and
chronic offenders, much of the drop in detention
population can be attributed to fewer youth
admitted for rule violations and non-delinquency
matters. For example, JDAI stresses the
development of effective strategies for
intervening with youth struggling with the
rules of probation prior to resorting to
secure lock-up. As a result, the use of
secure detention for technical violations
of probation (VOP) is down across sites,
and by as much as 59% in Hudson County,
where during the last quarter of 2006 just
five youth were admitted for a probation
rule violation, accounting for only 1.6%
of all detention admissions.
Reducing the length of time youth remain
in what is intended to be a short-term,
temporary placement by increasing case processing
efficiency is also a JDAI core strategy.
The average length of stay in detention
centers decreased by more than 30%, with
youth remaining in detention ten days less
than they did in 2003. Half of all youth
remained in detention for less than one
week.
Additionally, the proportion of youth remaining
in detention for more than two months dropped
by more than one-third across JDAI sites.
More efficient and equitable use of short-term
detention alternatives has also contributed
to the decrease in the number of juveniles
in secure facilities. Between 2005 and 2006,
JDAI sites enhanced the availability and
effectiveness of alternative placements,
and as a result saw an increase in youth
released from detention to appropriate alternative
supervision. The disparity in the use of
alternatives for minority youth has also
been reduced, so that the proportion of
minority youth served by alternatives more
closely resembles the proportion of minority
youth in secure detention. For example,
in 2003, youth of color represented 90%
of the population in Atlantic’s secure
detention, but 81% of the youth in alternative
placements -- a gap of 9 percentage points.
By increasing access to alternatives for
minority youth, in 2006 Atlantic had decreased
minority youth in detention to 89% and increased
minority youth served by alternatives to
86%, reducing the gap to 3 percentage points.
The average daily population of girls in
detention also decreased dramatically across
JDAI sites between 2003 and 2006, dropping
by over 60%, with 31 fewer girls in detention
on any given day. Camden and Atlantic Counties
each approached a three-quarters reduction
(72% and 70% respectively) in the number
of girls in detention on any given day,
and Essex decreased by almost two-thirds,
from 20 girls to 7 girls on any given day.
The entire report can be found at www.njjjc.com/publications.htm
#
# #
|
