Editorial Series: 3 Of 3

JUVENILE INJUSTICE: CRISIS AT THE MARION COUNTY JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER

Who's Watching?

Lack Of Oversight Created Conditions For Chaotic System

A state inspector, in letters obtained by The Star's Editorial Board,
found in November 2004 that the Marion County Juvenile Detention
Center was routinely exceeding capacity for inmates. Employees also
were not receiving required training.

Yet, despite those warning signs, Indiana's Department of Correction
classified the detention center as fully compliant. The center was
even praised for having "maintained a high level of compliance."

For children locked up in the center, reality was far worse. And far
more dangerous. Three months after the state's inspection, presiding
Superior Court Judge Cale Bradford imposed a cap on the number of
inmates because of chronic overcrowding.

This past April, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office accused nine
county employees of sexually molesting teenage inmates over a period
of at least six years. The center's director, since suspended from
his job, is accused of covering up the crimes.

And last month the National Partnership for Juvenile Services
described the center as "dirty," "chaotic" and filled with "suicide
risks." The Partnership also declared the center unsafe for inmates
and staff. County employees, because of inadequate staffing and
training, weren't regularly checking rooms, including those holding
inmates on suicide watch. Only 18 percent of inmates surveyed by the
Partnership thought they would be protected from an attack.

How could inspectors have missed such wretched conditions? State
oversight of county-run juvenile detention centers is lax at best.
Even if inspectors discover extensive violations at one of Indiana's
24 juvenile jails, they don't have the authority to shut it down;
only a Circuit Court judge can do so after being petitioned by
inspectors. Overcrowding, a problem that persists in Marion County
despite Judge Bradford's order, doesn't violate any of the state's
mandatory standards.

The quality of detention centers varies widely across the state.
Training and education programs that are offered in some counties are
inadequate and nonexistent in others. Screening for mental illnesses
and drug addiction is frequently inadequate -- despite the Indiana
Juvenile Justice Task Force's finding that 50 percent of inmates
struggle with mental illnesses or addictions.

As the Task Force's executive director, Bill Glick, points out, "How
you're treated as a detained juvenile in Indiana depends on where you live."

In Marion County, Superior Court judges have begun overhauling the
center's operation in recent weeks. The interim director, Chief
Probation Officer Robert Bingham, has been allowed to hire additional
staff. Employees now undergo extensive criminal background checks.

Yet serious challenges remain, both at the center and in juvenile court.

Part of the problem is that a single judge is responsible for both
operations. That system, enshrined in state law, was set up two
decades ago after a grand jury found deteriorating conditions at
Marion County's old detention center.

But the specialized nature of running a juvenile jail is overwhelming
for a judge who also must manage growing court dockets and oversight
of the county's $90 million child welfare budget.

The court's own policies regarding detention of juveniles exacerbate
the problems. The state Court of Appeals two years ago criticized the
practice of detaining children for low-level offenses such as
truancy. In a case reviewed by the appeals court, a child named
William spent three months in detention for violating his truancy probation.

Conditions at the center, combined with the amount of time inmates
serve, make sexual exploitation all the more likely.

Kayla, whose accusations spurred the Marion County Prosecutor
Office's investigation into the detention center, was allegedly
molested during both of her lengthy stays there. Another victim,
V.P., allegedly began sexual relations with youth manager Donnorris
Harvey during one of several extensive stints at the center in 2004 and 2005.

It's important to remember that most children at the center are not
hardened criminals. The lack of community-based mental health care
makes juvenile jails the treatment centers of last resort, according
to Douglas Abrams, a law professor at the University of Missouri.

Sometimes children remain in detention because they have nowhere else
to go. Bingham, the center's interim director, notes that one
10-year-old child stayed at the center because his parents never picked him up.

The cost to society of a dysfunctional system can endure for decades
as juveniles sink deeper into addictions, mental illness and crime.
"Sometimes these kids are released from juvenile detention in worse
condition than they came in," Abrams says.

A system that makes children worse? It's one Marion County can no
longer tolerate.

[Sidebar]

Why You Should Care

Indiana spends as much as $300 per juvenile per day -- more than the
cost of a night's stay at the new Conrad Hotel -- for confinement in
juvenile detention centers, prisons and specialized care units. A
home-based model would cost the state only $55 per day, a little less
than a night's stay at a Days Inn near the airport.

7 Solutions To Reform Juvenile Justice

Marion County officials are attempting to reform operations at the
troubled juvenile detention center. But much work remains. Here are
suggestions for improving the center and the juvenile court:

Keep Children Out Of Court

Reduce the overuse of harsh discipline by schools: Indianapolis
Public Schools has ended its decades-old policy of sending students
to juvenile detention for fighting. Other districts in Marion County
also need to find less-punitive alternatives in dealing with minor offenses.

Expand community mental health care: Families turn to the juvenile
justice system in desperation to find help for their children.
Providing better access to mental health services outside the courts
would reduce the number of children in the system and improve their care.

Strive For Fairness

Make juvenile court records available to the public: Sunshine is the
best way to bring checks and balances to the juvenile justice system.
Records of juvenile cases, sans the names of the children involved,
should be a part of the public record.

Add judges: Marion County Superior Court decided last month to
continue placing juvenile court under the control of one judge. The
strain of growing caseloads makes that system no longer workable.
It's time to spread out the workload and expand the number of people
making decisions by adding more judges.

Limit the waiver of counsel: Legislators this year failed to pass the
mandatory lawyer consolation proposal in Senate Bill 357. They should
approve a new version of the legislation next year.

Improve Juvenile Detention

Adopt the Missouri model: Since that state replaced its large
reformatories with small, community-based therapeutic treatment
centers and group homes in the 1970s, only 8 percent of convicted
juveniles return to the system within three years. At $55 per day per
juvenile, the model also is more cost-effective than the status quo.

Add teeth to the state's oversight of county-run detention centers:
State inspectors should have the authority to shut down juvenile
jails that are unsafe, filthy and overcrowded.