THE INS AND OUTS OF JUVENILE JAIL

During 2006, the St. Joseph County Juvenile Justice Center housed
3,798 children. That was some 500 more than in 2005. The change,
according to JJC officials, reflects an increase in property crime
and offenses against people committed by juveniles.

The numbers could cause one to believe that incarceration, along with
the threat of incarceration, isn't necessarily an effective deterrent
to juvenile crime. Putting kids in jail doesn't seem to reduce the
number of kids who are put in jail.

The concern of Mishawaka Police Cpl. Mark Fedder, a resource officer
at Mishawaka High School, is understandable, nevertheless. Fedder
expressed his frustration in a Feb. 18 report by Tribune Staff Writer
Alicia Gallegos about a policy change at the JJC.

Detention at the JJC no longer is assured when a student is caught
with marijuana. The cases are referred to the prosecutor's office
where they're handled as they were in the past. But the process no
longer begins with a "scared straight" ride to the JJC, unless a
history of offenses or some other factor raises the level of the
crime's seriousness.

Fedder believes the policy change costs him and fellow resource
officers some of their effectiveness. It might. But JJC
administrators have to consider the facility's overall effectiveness,
too, as well as the effectiveness of non-detention options. Besides,
they have little choice but to prioritize the offenses that lead to
detention. The facility may not exceed its allowable capacity --
something that has happened in the past and resulted to early release
of some young offenders.

The JJC has data to show that other ways of addressing juvenile
offenders might be more fitting in many cases:

- -The Juvenile Electronic Monitoring Program, which increases
supervision, has a successful completion rate above 85 percent.

- -The Juvenile Day Reporting Program aims to help medium- and
high-risk young people manage their anger and solve problems without
resorting to violence. Its rate of success is 75 percent and higher.

- -The Youth Justice Project is a collaboration between the court and
the Robinson Center. It has a 69 percent success rate in guiding kids
away from serious trouble.

- -Families are part of the equation in the High Impact Program, which
combines intense supervision by a probation officer with home-based
family therapy. Few juveniles who have gone through the program have
reoffended.

Anyone who has ever raised a child (or been one) knows that fear of
getting in trouble can be a strong incentive to do the right thing.
So we understand why school resource officers think a frightening
night at the JCC is just the thing to get a get a youngster to focus
on the consequences of his actions.

But overall success in crime prevention and juvenile rehabilitation
are what matter most. That means developing and using programs that
work. It also means keeping kids out of the JCC when there are
effective alternatives.