246.15-55+5647-6512)-.-+60;1+- 117+2-6-+; )760-61+ / )-41+);76021+;.47 The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) is a non-profit professional development organization based in Washington, DC. AYPF provides nonpartisan learning opportunities for individuals working on youth policy issues at the local, state and national levels. Participants in our learning activities include Government employees—Congressional staff, policymakers and Executive Branch aides; officers of professional and national associations; Washington-based state office staff; researchers and evaluators; education and public affairs media. Our goal is to enable policymakers and their aides to be more effective in their professional duties and of greater service—to Congress, the Administration, state legislatures, governors and national organizations— in the development, enactment, and implementation of sound policies affecting our nation’s young people. We believe that knowing more about youth issues—both intellectually and experientially—will help our participants formulate better policies and do their jobs more effectively. AYPF does not lobby or take positions on pending legislation. We work to develop better communication, greater understanding and enhanced trust among these professionals, and to create a climate that will result in constructive action. Each year AYPF conducts 35 to 45 learning events (forums, discussion groups and study tours) and develops policy reports disseminated nationally. For more information about these activities and other publications, contact our web site at www.aypf.org. This publication is not copyrighted and may be freely quoted without permission, provided the source is identified as: Less Cost, More Safety: Guiding lights for Reform in Juvenile Justice by Richard A. Mendel. Published in 2001 by the American Youth Policy Forum, Washington, DC. Reproduction of any portion of this report for commercial sale is prohibited. Contact AYPF for additional copies at $5.00 including postage and handling AYPF events and policy reports are made possible by the support of a consortium of philanthropic foundations: Ford Foundation, General Electric Fund, William T. Grant Foundation, George Gund Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, Walter S. Johnson Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Charles S. Mott Foundation, NEC Foundation of America, Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, and others. The views reflected in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders. American Youth Policy Forum 1836 Jefferson Place, NW Washington, DC 20036-2505 Phone: 202-775-9731 Fax: 202-775-9733 E-Mail: -55+564-5).-6; / +6-65 2 INTRODUCTION: 2 Eight Challenges for Juvenile Justice Reform 3 Less Cost, More Safety and Success 4 Matrix 8 CHALLENGE #1: Reduce Overreliance on Incarceration 9 Un-Prisonment: Missouri Department of Youth Services 9 An Alternative to “Training School” 10 Un-Prison Atmosphere 11 Safety, Savings, and Success 12 Ohio and California: Using Financial Incentives to Reduce Counties’ Dependence on State Training Schools 13 The Keys to Success 14 Conclusion 15 CHALLENGE #2: Offer A Broad Array of Community-Based Sanctions and Interventions for Delinquent but Non-Dangerous Youth 16 Building a Community-Based Continuum Tarrant County (TX) Juvenile Services Department 16 The Tarrant County Continuum 18 San Diego County The Comprehensive Stratagy 19 Cross-Country Contrast 20 Less Cost, More Safety 21 CHALLENGE #3: Replicate Research-Proven Program Strategies to Reduce Delinquency 22 Putting Research Into Practice Youth Villages in Memphis, Tennessee 22 Looking to the Research 24 Bringing Success to Scale 25 Putting Proven Models Into Practice: Washington State’s Community Juvenile Accountability Act 28 CHALLENGE #4: Identify and Intervene Intensively with Youth at Extreme Risk for Chronic Delinquency 29 Nipping Criminal Careers in the Bud The 8 Percent Solution, Orange County, California 29 Identifying Potential “8 Percent Youth” 30 The “8 Percent” Program Model 31 John, Rudy, and the Case for Early Intervention 31 Measuring Success -- The “8 Percent” Dividend 33 CHALLENGE #5: Provide Comprehensive Support and Assistance to Youth (and Children) with Behavioral Disturbances 34 Wraparound Milwaukee Systems Reform in a Large Jurisdiction 35 Understanding the “Wraparound” Approach 35 Wraparound -- Milwaukee-Style 36 Blended Funding and “Capitated Rate” Financing 37 Minimizing Out-of-Home Placement 37 Wraparound Success 39 CHALLENGE #6: Offer Quality Treatment and Youth Development Services for Incarcerated Youth 40 The Last Chance Ranch Turning Around Florida’s Toughest Juvenile Offenders 40 Up From the Sea: The Evolution of a Juvenile Justice Model 41 A Ranch for Florida’s Toughest Juveniles 41 A Unique Atmosphere 42 Rewards, Punishments, and Hard Work 43 Phase Three -- Making Aftercare a Centerpiece 43 The New Ferris School Juvenile Corrections Reform in Delaware 44 Unparalleled Results 46 CHALLENGE #7: Provide Quality Education and Career Development Services that Enable Youth to Assume Productive Roles in Society 47 Preparing Delinquent Youth for Productive Careers The Gulf Coast Training Center 47 Union Roots 48 FRESH START at the Living Classrooms Foundation: An Old Trade Leads to New Success 48 Vocational Corrections 51 More Work, Less Recidivism 53 CHALLENGE #8: Reduce Inappropriate Detention of Youth Awaiting Trial or Pending Placement 54 Juvenile Justice Operational Master Plan Bringing Detention Reform to Seattle and King County, WA 55 Framing a Master Plan 55 Targets for Reform 56 The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternative 58 The Fruits of Reform 60 CONCLUSION 61 ENDNOTES 66 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 2 American Youth Policy Forum 164,7+61 “America has both the knowledge and the money we need to substantially reduce adolescent crime and youth violence. We have the know-how to reduce the number of young people likely to join the next generation of adult criminals. Better yet, we can likely achieve this goal at a cost no greater (and perhaps considerably less) than what we will spend if current juvenile justice policies and programs remain in place.” Less Hype, More Help: Reducing Juvenile Crime, What Works – and What Doesn’t (Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum, June 2000) uring the 1990s, juvenile crime pierced the Unfortunately, many of the so-called “reforms” Dnational consciousness. Delinquency and enacted in recent years have ignored the real causes youth violence soared to new heights early in the for delinquency and neglected the promising cures. decade. Alarming stories about juvenile Many states have embraced tough-sounding “superpredators” and a “ticking time bomb” of strategies that appeal to voters but don’t work, and adolescent crime haunted the covers of Time and most have failed to address longstanding Newsweek. Then the school shootings in Jonesboro weaknesses and imbalances in our nation’s juvenile and Paducah and at Columbine High shook the justice institutions. nation. Even a sharp decline in juvenile delinquency and violence since the early 1990s has Reducing the situation to a simple metaphor, not lessened Americans’ continuing sense of alarm. scholars and practitioners have blazed a promising new trail toward progress in reigning in America’s In June 2000, the American Youth Policy Forum adolescent crime problem – a trail leading to less and six national partner organizations published a crime, lower costs, and fewer lost youth. Yet many report analyzing America’s youth crime challenge of our nation’s policymakers are instead marching at the turn of the millennium and assessing the full steam ahead in other directions – directions effectiveness of new and existing juvenile crime fraught with alarming costs and inevitable failure policies nationwide. The report, entitled Less Hype, both for protecting the public and for maximizing More Help: Reducing Juvenile Crime, What Works success among troubled youth. – and What Doesn’t, found reason for great optimism. Juvenile justice experts and practitioners EIGHT CHALLENGES FOR JUVENILE have developed an array of effective tools over JUSTICE REFORM the past two decades with proven power to reduce violence and other lawbreaking by adolescents. This report follows up on Less Hype, More Help by focusing more squarely on the critical needs The report also revealed causes for grave concern. and problems facing juvenile justice efforts Responding to public demand for action against nationwide. Specifically, the report spotlights eight youth crime, our nation’s political leaders have cross-cutting challenges – both to take advantage responded aggressively to the perceived crisis. of new opportunities created by advances in Virtually every state has enacted sweeping new laws research and practice, and to overcome since 1992 – erecting new correctional facilities, commonplace problems that now cripple America’s imposing procedures to shift more accused youth efforts to reduce delinquent offending and steer to adult criminal courts, and launching a bevy of troubled youth away from crime. These challenges new juvenile justice and youth crime prevention include: programs. Less Cost, More Safety 3 1. Reducing Overreliance on Incarceration for practice, employing best practice reforms, Non-Dangerous Youthful Offenders creating better incentives, improving multi- agency cooperation, and eliminating inefficiency, 2. Developing a Continuum of Community-Based each of the guiding light programs is Sanctions and Interventions for Delinquent but demonstrating that success is possible in juvenile Non-Dangerous Youth justice. Recidivism can be lowered. Teen crime rates can be reduced. More positive outcomes 3. Employing Research-Proven Program for high-risk youth can be achieved. Strategies to Reduce Delinquency LESS COST, MORE SAFETY AND 4. Identifying and Intervening Intensively With SUCCESS Youth at Extreme Risk for Chronic Delinquency As the following pages will detail, guiding lights programs not only produce far better outcomes 5. Providing Comprehensive Support to Youth than are now commonpla ce in juvenile justice With Behavioral Disturbances systems nationwide. They also yield vast savings for taxpayers. 6. Ensuring Quality Treatment and Youth Development Services for Incarcerated Youth Most of the model initiatives profiled in this report achieve their notable successes for a price 7. Providing Quality Education and Career significantly lower than what more conventional Development Services to Help Youth Outgrow programs currently spend on failure. Even those Delinquency and Assume Productive Roles in with high price-tags are proving cost-effective Society because they frequently solve problems the first time, rather than failing repeatedly and ensuring 8. Reducing Inappropriate Detention for Youth that youths return to the justice system and require Awaiting Trial or Pending Placement repeated confinement. For each of these challenges, this report highlights Spend less, achieve more safety and more youth one or more existing programs, policies or initiatives success: that is the opportunity available to that show how the challenge can be (and is being) America in juvenile justice reform – if we met successfully at the state and local levels. (See demonstrate the energy and resourcefulness and table on pages 4-7.) By putting research into dedication to put our knowledge into practice. 4 American Youth Policy Forum Challenge Exemplary Response Critical Characteristics No. 1 Missouri Division of Youth Statewide system based on: Services M small-scale residential facilities (rather than Over-reliance on (State of Missouri) training schools) Incarceration M extensive 24-hour/day therapy M quality education programs M heavy family outreach/counseling M well-qualified, highly-trained staff M extensive non-residential programming and aftercare support No. 2 Tarrant County Juvenile County Probation Agency with : Services M limited number of locked pre-trial detention Continuum of (Tarrant County, TX) beds Community M extensive array of non-residential Sanctions and sanctions, including advocate programs, Interventions family preservation, and community service-restitution M strong partnerships with community-based service providers M limited use of confinement and residential treatment No. 3 Youth Villages Private non-profit agency serving youth with (Memphis, TN) emotional and behavioral disorders (including Research-Based many delinquents), providing a continuum of Program Models residential and non-residential care, including: M Multisystemic Therapy, a highly effective home-based, family-focused mental health intervention M Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, another highly effective, research-based treatment model No. 4 “8 Percent Solution” County probation program aimed at reducing (Orange County, CA) the number of chronic juvenile offenders by: Youth at Extreme M identifying the characteristics of youth at Risk highest risk to become chronic juvenile offenders M screening all first-time offenders to identify those with highest probability to become chronic offenders M enrolling potential chronic offenders in an intensive day treatment program including family therapy, substance abuse counseling, remedial academic education, and case management Less Cost, More Safety 5 Evidence of Effectiveness Other Noteworthy Responses 1. Far lower recidivism rates than most other Reclaim Ohio – Statewide funding reform to state juvenile corrections agencies. reward counties for treating juvenile offenders 2. Far smaller budget than juvenile corrections locally and preventing excessive commitments to agencies in other states. state training schools. California Youth Authority – New sliding scale funding formula requiring counties to pay a large share of the costs for non-serious offenders committed to state custody. 1. Substantial reductions in juvenile crime and San Diego County – Developed comprehensive violence. strategy including programs to prevent the onset 2. 90-day failure rate for probation programs of delinquency and non-residential programming lower than most large urban counties in Texas. to reverse delinquent behavior before juvenile 3. County’s long-term recidivism for youth offenders commit serious crimes and require served in local probation programs is second incarceration or transfer to adult courts. lowest among Texas’ large urban counties. 1. Only agency in the nation to replicate these Washington State’s Community Juvenile two state-of-the-art treatment models. Accountability Act –A grant program to local 2. Using these models, substantially increased juvenile courts for replication of delinquency long-term success of troubled youth program strategies with proven power to reduce compared with traditional residential treatment re-offending cost-effectively. programs used previously. 3. Achieving greater success at a far lower cost per participant than residential treatment. 1. Just 49% of youth in initial pilot were re- Repeat Offender Prevention Project – State- arrested within 1 year, vs. 93% arrest rate for funded project to support the “8 Percent” program youth with identical characteristics in an and other early intervention programs in 7 earlier study. additional California jurisdictions, with a controlled 2. In a controlled evaluation, youth who evaluation design to measure the programs’ completed the program suffered two or more impact scientifically. subsequent arrests 29% less often than youth randomly assigned to a control group. 3. “8%” youth also had fewer arrests, fewer court petitions, and spent fewer days in confinement than control group youth. 6 American Youth Policy Forum Challenge Exemplary Response Critical Characteristics No. 5 Wraparound Milwaukee County mental health program to reduce out-of- (Milwaukee County, WI) home treatment for disturbed (and often Youth With delinquent) youth using pooled funding ($28 Behavioral million/year) from county juvenile probation, Disturbances child welfare, and mental health agencies. M comprehensive home-based services M intensive case-management M strength-based treatment philosophy M extensive service-provider network M mobile treatment team for crisis management and prevention of admissions to psychiatric hospitals No. 6 Florida Environmental Small, privately-operated correctional facility for Institute serious and violent youth offenders: Chronic and Violent (Glades County, FL) M working ranch located in the Florida Youth Offenders Everglades, with no locked cells or restraints M high staff-to-offender ratio and close staff- offender relationships M intensive behavior management (reward/ punishments for good/bad behavior) M extensive chores and work activities as well as in-depth educational programming M intensive aftercare support for six months No. 7 Gulf Coast Trades Center Residential corrections facility using vocational (New Waverly, TX) training as a primary strategy to rehabilitate Quality Education juvenile offenders: and Career M all students enrolled in one of 9 career Development for tracks, each with a 915-hour applied Delinquent Youth curriculum M students receive two hours per day of academic instruction M most students participate in paid work experience on campus, in community agencies, or in new low-income housing construction M intensive aftercare, including job search/ job placement assistance No. 8 Juvenile Justice Comprehensive analysis of county juvenile Operational Master Plan justice operations in order to: Juvenile Detention (King County, WA) M reduce overcrowding at juvenile detention Reform center M eliminate need for construction and operation of added detention beds M identify alternative programs/policies to improve outcomes for juvenile offenders and reduce juvenile offending rates