This affects
some kids who would ordinarily end up locked up in juvie, but who really don't need to be. They're separating the low level offenders from the hardcore crowd. Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb remarks:
"The basic premise is that when we lock up low-risk offenders with moderate and high-risk offenders, we are actually increasing their risk of re-offending and not the other way around."
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Full article for posterity's sake:
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The Gadsden Times ·
[Alabama]Young offenders offered better chance in lifeBy Andy Powell
Times Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 9:33 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 9:35 p.m.FIRST OF TWO PARTS
Vocational training, education and substance treatment of juvenile detainees are the foundations of a new juvenile detention program in Montgomery that is administered by The Bridge Inc., an adolescent drug and alcohol treatment facility headquartered in Gadsden.
Officials say the innovative program should result in a lower rate of juveniles committing crimes again after completing the program and save taxpayers money.
The Bridge was selected to operate the Davis Treatment Center, a nonresidential juvenile detention program, according to Bruce Howell, administrator of the Montgomery County Juvenile Court. The center is named after John W. Davis III, who held several judicial positions in Montgomery County.
The facility is housed in the former Montgomery County "boot camp" that was renovated for use by a nonresidential program.
"The difference between this program and other programs we've run is this is not a residential program," Howell said in a phone interview. "A lot of your national data now tells you that paying people to watch children to sleep and not take care of the home situation is not good. The intent of the program is to keep folks out of the Department of Youth Services because it costs so much more to send a kid to a state institution and you're better off to deal with them locally."
Howell said the cost for housing a youth at Mount Meigs, the state juvenile detention facility, is about $38,000 annually, and the cost of the new program per juvenile is a third of that.
The savings are good, Howell said, but more importantly "when you send a kid to a state institution, very rarely is he going to come home any better. There's not a lot of rehabilitation, There's more punishment than anything, but what we're trying to do is change his behavior and give him skills where he can do something else other than burglarize houses."
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb said she has been impressed with the program.
In a phone interview, Cobb said juvenile justice reforms has been one of her priorities since taking office in 2006. She said the state has implemented best practices "that have absolutely made the public safer, it has reduced juvenile crime and it's saved tax dollars."
"The basic premise is that when we lock up low-risk offenders with moderate and high-risk offenders, we are actually increasing their risk of re-offending and not the other way around," Cobb said.
"In the past it's always been thought, 'lock them up and teach them a lesson.' Well it's taught them a lesson. What it's taught them were behaviors that were not what we need them to learn in order to be a productive citizen."
She said what the state is trying to do is "lock up kids that we're afraid of, but the kids we're just mad at, we need to work at what their underlying issues are that are causing them to get in trouble."
Cobb, a former juvenile judge, said judges want alternatives to commitments to DYS.
She said day treatment programs have been successful in reducing crime as well as saving money.
"This a truly a model program. It's really work force development," Cobb said.
The difference in this program is that kids are taught a skill and helped to get a job.
"This is what the kids say will make the biggest difference in them not getting into additional trouble," Cobb said, "and that is what the data showed too."
Additional tutoring is also helpful.
Howell said the staff at the Davis facility is working with the children and their parents in the evenings. Electronic monitoring can be used if necessary in the juvenile's home.
"This is the only program of its type in the state where we have a day program and an evening reporting center together with such a strong vocational component," Howell said.
The program is still in its infancy and officials will look at data and see if it is doing what they want it to do or if changes are needed.
The Bridge is being paid $500,000 annually to operate the program, and Montgomery County maintains the facility. The program can be renewed for two years after the first year.
The program offers vocational training in food service and landscaping and soon will add masonry.
Howell was with the juvenile court system in Etowah County for eight-and-a-half years and has been with Montgomery for 27 years.
He said the program could be a model for other counties to follow.
"There's a lot of people looking at it right now," Howell said. "The problem is that too many of these children don't have any light at the end of tunnel for employability. That's the No. 1 thing we're pushing, to get them some jobs."
He said now they have two possibilities: "Sell crack or work at a fast food restaurant."
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