CALIFORNIA DEBATE
Juvenile justice remains out of sight
Some people in the juvenile justice system contend the
gross underfunding of programs is directly related to California's
strict laws on confidentiality of court proceedings and anything
juvenile-system related.
When Proposition 13 was passed, the government started
taking money away from "hidden systems" like juvenile justice programs,
said Michael McDowell, supervising Deputy District Attorney for the
juvenile division, Victorville. Juvenile programs are easy targets for
budget cuts because the public really has no idea what is going on in
the system.
"If the general public knew the status of this system,
they would be really upset," McDowell said.
McDowell has worked in and out of the juvenile system
for the past 30 years. Over that period, programs for the rehabilitation
of minors (juveniles charged with crimes) has decreased dramatically in
both number and quality, McDowell said.
He said the system stopped handling "incorrigible
kids" and runaways in 1981. The Kaiper Youth Centers, a program that
combined trade schools with an attached farm which was highly praised by
all, was shut down in 1988.
For example, today a minor who steals several cars may
start out on probation, McDowell said. He is assigned a probation
officer who already has too many cases and sent to "counseling programs
that are a joke." The minors are not given what they really need in
terms of psychological assessment or treatment.
"It's the old adage -- they are gushing blood and we
are handing them a Band-Aid," McDowell said.
There is no public support for the budget struggle in
the juvenile system because those who work in the system can't talk to
the public for the confidentiality laws, McDowell said.
"The first thing I would do to get more funding is to
open the system to statewide exposure -- you can protect minors without
closing the system," he said. "Once the public started to discuss the
issues, they would say 'why not spend a dollar now to prevent a juvenile
from turning into a full criminal five years from now?"
Confidentiality laws are not constitutional, he said.
Other states handle the issues differently but effectively.
A reporter giving information to the public has a
right to know how a case was investigated and the court's disposition,
he said. The public has a right to know if the school where the crime
took place acted responsibly with respect to the juvenile perpetrators.
The public should know what probation officers did to help the
perpetrators not commit another crime.
Children's Network Officer for the county Kent Paxton
said, if the press had details of the juvenile cases he is not sure that
would address the funding problem issue. "It depends on how the press
presented it," Paxton said. "There is a portion of the public that
thinks incarceration is what they need." The press would have to
cover the full story from the mother who abused drugs and alcohol to an
environment of family violence to neglect and other dynamics, he said.
Every couple of years the legislature debates whether
to open dependency and abuse hearings so the public would know about
these cases, but the legislation never passes.
Superior Juvenile Court Judge Margaret Powers said
there's a lot of controversy over whether to loosen the confidentiality
laws for juvenile cases with good arguments on both sides. "It would be
good to have the public know more about what's going on" and
confidentiality of cases is important to protect juveniles later in
their life.
It's a double-edged sword, Powers said. There are some
more serious offenses like murder hearings that are open to the public.
Funding is a problem, she said. There are kids who
need programs who have to wait for weeks and even moths to get into a
program and there is no counseling except crisis counseling in juvenile
hall. She said the system is set up well and everybody is doing a good
job, but there are not enough judges, probation officers or treatment
programs -- the system is "just stretched."
Chief Deputy Public Defender Lauri Ferguson said
juvenile programs are "grossly underfunded" and it does affect
rehabilitation options.
If people knew how many kids who committed property
crimes and have mental health problems are being sent to a prison for
juveniles, the California Youth Authority, "you'd think they would
probably want a better solution."
The state of Missouri uses a juvenile justice model
that is more rehabilitative than penal and institutional, she said.
Minors are sent to group homes with 30 or less individuals where staff
can focus on treatment.
Kathleen Stinson
4 November 2005
http://www.desertdispatch.com/2005/113111331183726.html
