Juvenile_Rehabilitation

Juvenile Rehabilitation or Incarceration Vicky Connell CJS/240 Lydia Sam November 13, 2011 Juvenile Rehabilitation or Incarceration Juvenile rehabilitation or incarceration has been a topic of discussion for many years. Should the juvenile justice system focus solely on incarceration' Or does the juvenile justice system sentence juveniles to rehabilitation treatment programs' This paper will focus on rehabilitation as the best practice for our juveniles. The juvenile justice system was created in the 1800’s with the intent to treat juveniles as adults and if found guilty were imprisoned in an adult prison. In 1847 John Agustus began what was called “planting the seeds of juvenile probation.” Here is an excerpt from a court proceeding: "I bailed nineteen boys, from 7 to 15 years of age, and in bailing them it was understood, and agreed by the court, that their cases should be continued from term to term for several months, as a season of probation; thus each month at the calling of the docket, I would appear in court, make my report, and thus the cases would pass on for 5 or 6 months. At the expiration of this term, twelve of the boys were brought into court at one time, and the scene formed a striking and highly pleasing contrast with their appearance when first arraigned. The judge expressed much pleasure as well as surprise at their appearance, and remarked that the object of law had been accomplished and expressed his cordial approval of my plan to save and reform (Juvenile Justice Bulletin, 1999)." This is the first attempt to move the current juvenile justice system to reflect rehabilitation as a court model. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (2009) youth need to build strong supportive relationships with their positive spheres of influences. Once these relationships are formed it has proven that a juvenile’s behavior decreases and they are more likely to refuse the temptation to fall into drug and alcohol abuse. These established relationships also give the juvenile confidence and reassurance that they are not alone and someone cares about them. Rehabilitation for juveniles has to have many agencies involved for it to be successful; law enforcement, court processes, probation, corrections, community services, and intervention programs. All of these agencies or organizations working together would help to decrease the population of juvenile offenders. When all of these agencies and organizations are working together it creates a win-win situation for everyone involved! When law enforcement begins to focus on rehabilitation rather than incarceration juveniles will see that the “cops” are on their side. They will no longer think of the “cops” as the bad guys, but professionals that care and want to help them to help themselves by not getting into trouble and caught in the vicious cycle of the juvenile justice system. One such program is the training that the federal government implemented for law enforcement agents. This training involves or helps law enforcement to prevent formation of gangs and helps to limit gang violence (GetLegal, 2011). According to Compass of Larimer County (2011) court processes have drastically dropped from 2009 to 2010. This decrease is because the 8th Judicial District and the District Attorney’s office emphasized strong appropriate diversion programming for juveniles who are arrested for criminal offenses. The 8th Judicial District also is in collaboration with Larimer County Human Services to establish another drug court to help with the lower risk juveniles. According to Axia College (2005) probation can consist of several different dispositions and is the most widely used form of community treatment without incarceration. The conditions of probation can vary, all dependent on each individual juvenile. Probation officers can require the juvenile to pay restitution or reparation, intensive supervision, intensive counseling, participation in therapeutic programs, or participation in an educational or vocational training program. While on probation the juvenile may also be required to refrain from associating with certain types of people, and remain in a particular area unless they have permission to leave. Probation is an incredible opportunity for the juvenile. It allows the juvenile to be out in the community, living at home, getting help from community treatment programs rather than being incarcerated. Many states and counties have rebuilt their current juvenile detention facilities to mimic what the juvenile would experience if not incarcerated. One such facility is in San Mateo County, California. They have taken an old detention center and made it into a new juvenile rehabilitation center. The facility has no bars on the window. When the juvenile looks out the windows he/she sees what is waiting for them. They walk to school, just as if they were on the outside. This is teaching them to get to school on time and not be truant. This provides teens a degree of freedom and responsibility that they'll need in order to reacclimatize. What an awesome way to give the juvenile the training, counseling, and coaching of becoming a successful citizen when they leave the facility (Cote, 2005). Community services are important to the rehabilitation of juveniles. Without community involvement and the members of the community getting involved in the lives of our youth we would see the juvenile justice system limited to only incarceration – punishment. Many community programs are being taken into schools and juvenile detention centers. In Fort Collins, Colorado, Team Fort Collins is an alternative place for youth and to come and get involved in activities rather than spending time hanging out on the streets. Team Fort Collins holds many different activities throughout the year to draw the youth in. They also have a mentor program that meets with the teens at the school that the teen attends. This gives the teen a mentor that comes to them instead of trying to find a way to get to the Team Fort Collins center, which is downtown, and can be quite difficult to find transportation too. As a child grows, many times the child is raised in an atmosphere of hate, violence, abuse, and neglect. When the child is left to fend for themselves they many times will turn to others to get what is lacking in their home life. A part of rehabilitation for these young people is intervention programs. Intervention programs help to pull the young person out of where they are at and get the help that is needed. Unfortunately, many times it should have started at a very young age for the child. With intervention the juvenile may be placed in a community treatment center for drug or alcohol abuse, giving the juvenile a second chance to be successful. Some would argue that rehabilitation is a waste of money for the tax payer. I would strongly disagree. According to the American Correctional Association (2008), the average cost, per day, to incarcerate a juvenile was $241. This translates to approximately $66,000 to $88,000 a year per juvenile. Tax payers spent approximately $5 billion in 2008 to house and confine juvenile offenders. Now I ask you, is this a wise use of tax payer dollars' Some opponents of rehabilitation would ask “is it safe to reduce juvenile confinement'” On the contrary, in California, when de-incarceration was accelerated, the juvenile crime rate decreased to its lowest level since 1970. So, one could say that the common theory of more incarceration breeds less crime is very false, as evidenced in the lower crime rate after the de-incarceration movement (Mendel, 2011). The advantages of rehabilitation far outweigh the disadvantages. In my opinion, there are no disadvantages. The first advantage of rehabilitation is the obvious cost savings. It is absurd that tax payers are funding the exorbitant fees for incarceration of a juvenile. The tax payer money is not helping the juveniles, it is housing and not helping the juvenile to become a law abiding citizen. On the contrary, when the juvenile is released they return to the life style that got them in trouble to begin with. They are not given the tools to implement a healthy life style. Second, community treatment facilities are becoming more abundant in our communities to facilitate the treatment, counseling, mentoring, education, and coaching that our youth of today lack. Many of these facilities also provide these services to the parents of the juveniles that are sentenced to the treatment. This provides the families with education to see the warning signs of youth in trouble before the actual crime take place. The juvenile justice system, over the years, has moved towards rehabilitation, but needs to be more involved in the whole process. An example of a juvenile justice system becoming more involved is that of the 8th Judicial District again. The judge that presides over the juvenile court is in collaboration with the Alternative Sentencing Division. They are working to add weekend community service alternatives for juvenile offenders. The juveniles will report at 8:00am on a Saturday, work through Sunday 4:00pm completing a community service sentence. The juvenile spends the night at the Alternative Sentencing Division building, separated from the adults. What a better way to punish a juvenile, take away their weekend time; time that most likely would be spent with friends (Stolen, L., Alternative Sentencing Director, person communication, November 9, 2011). In conclusion, the youth of today are out future. Where would the country be today if rehabilitation were a major part of the justice system from the beginning' Rehabilitation must start now for our children, youth, and juvenile delinquents. Intervention must start at an early age, which in turn will keep the crime rate down. With the crime rate down it means less juveniles in the court system. I don’t know about you but I look forward to the day that I am without a job for lack of those that need rehabilitation because we, as a country, got involved within the community to stop the madness. There is an old African saying, “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” I stand by this, in that, we as a country must pull our heads out of the sand and realize that we cannot leave it all up to the courts to decide the fate of our children. We must get involved. References Compass of Larimer County (2011). Probation Supervision – Adults & Juveniles. Retrieved on November 13, 2011 from http://www.larimer.org/compass/probation_cs_crime.htm Cote, J., (2006). SAN MATEO COUNTY / New juvenile hall focuses on rehab, not punishment. Retrieved on November 13, 2011 from http://articles.sfgate.com/2006-09-15/bay-area/17310377_1_county-s-juvenile-courts-juvenile-justice-juvenile-services/2 Juvenile Delinquency: The Core, 2005. Retrieved on September 12, 2011 from Axia College, University of Phoenix, CJS 240. Legal Information Center. (2011). Juvenile Programs. Retrieved on November 13, 2011 from http://public.getlegal.com/legal-info-center/juvenile-justice/juvenile-programs Team Fort Collins, (2011). Retrieved on November 13, 2011 from http://www.teamfortcollins.org/actuality-social-norming/the-social-norm-approach/ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2009). SAMHSA Health Information Network. Retrieved on November 13, 2011 from http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/rpo997/ 1999 National Report Series. Juvenile Justice Bulletin: Juvenile Justice: A Century of Change. Retrieved on November 13, 2011 from https://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/9912_2/juv1.html