There are troubled youth here in Denmark too. Right now I wear a bullet proof vest to work for the same reason. It is a number of gangs shooting at each other and they have managed to killed more innocent bystanders than gangmembers so far.
We have searched for solutions and of course programs has been investigated too. Not only by
Spft but also by our politicians. Some of them are traveling around the world right now.
If I look for solutions which could be used here in Denmark, I had to say that I like the
peer court concept.
We know that every kind of inpatient treatment or jail should be avoided if possible. Outpatient treatment are 10-15 times cheaper, so you can reach out to a larger group. A jail-cell in Denmark cost 350-400 dollars every 24H. Our guards are not armed because we dont want hostage situations so the police are used as backup and shoots inmates if they run. It is easier out in the open than inside a jail.
It is the same with our group homes for juveniles - even the secure ones. They are not big in size because larger facilities makes it more difficult for the staff to concentrate on solving individual issues.
We advocate for the Peer court concept to be used here because giving a youth a criminal record or probation gives no meaning. The specific part of the human brain which takes care of long-term consequences are not fully developed by humans until they reach 18-20 years of age. Thats why some can research improvement and state that "they grew out of it" regardless if they are warehoused or not.
So a consequence have to be short. It has to start soon after the violation has been committed. It has to be a learning experience too. Not only for the person on trail but for peers so they can see how quickly a poor descision can be taken.
If you established a system where parents without fear of a criminal record could help the authorities to solve crimes committed by their children, programs will die or the number largely reduced.
For some being placed before a peer court would be a confrontational group therapy , but it will be done within the limits of the law because every peer court procedure has to be monitored by real lawyers, socialworkers and judges.
We are by no mean a perfect country regardless our effort in the 11'th crusade against heathens. We can learn something from your culture. You have 1 out of 100 citizens locked out in prisons and programs without any improvement of security in our society. We don't need to go there. But you also have something which can work and that we will try to take and improve.