TENNESSEE VIEW

Minority juveniles in centers:
Alternatives must be found to locking up less serious offenders

A new task force charged with finding alternatives to detention centers for juvenile minority offenders has an opportunity to make a big difference in the lives of young people.

Statewide, a disproportionate number of minorities are either in secure detention centers or have been transferred to adult court. While factors such as poverty and lack of education can contribute to more juveniles from lower socioeconomic groups getting into trouble, discrimination and racism definitely have been factors in the detention of black youths.

The Clarksville Disproportionate Minority Confinement Task Force, which just had its first meeting, expects that local data will mirror state statistics when it comes to youth minority detention.

One of the points the task force, which is set to meet quarterly, will address is whether or not the punishment fits the crime. Debrah Stafford from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth said during the group's meeting that alternative programs for young people who have not committed serious crimes such as skipping school, should be offered.

Stafford pointed out that no one was saying that the offenders shouldn't be held accountable. But there ought to be alternatives to confinement for the less serious offenses.

Finding such alternatives benefits not only the juveniles and their families but society at large. When a kid is sent to a detention center, he is put into a population where people who have committed more severe crimes than he has are also located. Rather than be rehabilitated, he's more likely to come out of confinement more hardened than he was going in and more inclined toward criminal behavior.

Clarksville and Tennessee have the opportunity to turn lives around with community programs that are tailored to young minority offenders. It's an investment that we cannot afford to pass up.

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060130/OPINION01/601300304/1014

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