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In Focus: Disconnected Youth
The Albany Times Union
November 21, 2008
Guest Op-Ed
Reinvent Juvenile Justice
By DAVID R. JONES
Gov. David Paterson's proposed budget cuts only partially address the state's bloated criminal justice system. To his credit, this is a good start. In his efforts to balance the state budget, the governor has decided to close six upstate juvenile justice facilities that are seriously underutilized. In fact, two of them have zero residents.
There are about 2,000 children in the system. All were under age 16 when they entered. Eighty-six percent are black or Latino. More than 70 percent are from New York City. Since almost all the facilities are upstate, most of these children are housed far from their homes.
New York state's juvenile justice system is expensive and inefficient. The state spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually to fund it and gets little for the money.
Closing these six facilities would save the state about $1 million this fiscal year and another $17 million in the next fiscal year.
The governor wants to move funds saved from the closings into the general operating fund. A better idea would be to reinvest the funds into a more efficient juvenile justice system.
The closings are jeopardized by a law, the Twelve Month Notice statute, which should be repealed by the Legislature specifically for these closings.
Earlier this year, Gladys Carrion, commissioner of the Office of Children & Family Services, tried to close the six juvenile facilities, as well as the merging and downsizing of others. The state's plan was to place children in community-based alternatives to incarceration which will be closer to their homes and families.
The changes in facilities and the new programs were designed to prepare these young people for a successful life after they leave the juvenile justice system. This is where the savings from closing underutilized facilities ought to go.
There is another side to this story. Closing the juvenile facilities would put about 255 full-time employees at risk of losing their jobs.
The state should assist staff in finding similar or alternative positions at other state agencies or facilities. The Office of Children & Families plans to work with the state's Department of Economic Development to minimize the economic impact of the closings.
For further cuts in the criminal justice system, Paterson should be looking to close underutilized adult facilities. With the declining prison population, several adult facilities — operating at one-half capacity — should also be closed, with inmates transferred to other facilities.
The savings from these closings should be reinvested in programs for non-violent offenders, including alcohol and substance abuse treatment.
Closing these juvenile facilities would do more than save the state money. A reorganized and effective juvenile justice system would contribute to public safety, providing juvenile offenders with a real chance for success after they leave the system.
It would help to prevent many of them from "graduating" to the state's prisons, where given the dismal history of adult incarceration in this country, they stand a good chance of becoming career criminals instead of productive citizens.
David R. Jones is president and CEO of The Community Service Society of New York .
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