DRUG USE, CRIME BY YOUTHS TARGETED

Commissioners Review Report On Problems, Possible Solutions

From 1989 to 1997, the number of Carroll County students suspended from
school more than doubled. From 1991 to 1997, the number of county youths
age 13 or younger entering the juvenile justice system rose nearly 90
percent. By the end of the 1990s, the number of county teen-agers seeking
treatment for heroin use ranked third among the five counties in the
metropolitan area.

County officials are blaming poor child-rearing practices for these
statistics, and are considering new anti-drug programs, ranging from
government endorsement of "family values" and faith-based marriage
counseling to greater availability of long-term care for substance users.

"These problems took years to develop and they'll take years to fix," said
county executive assistant Robert A. Bair, who has drafted a report for the
county commissioners outlining the problems and possible responses. "We're
not talking about an overnight solution."

His report was compiled after nearly a year of research, including meetings
with local agencies involved with substance use prevention or juvenile
crime. The commissioners are reviewing the document and are expected to
hold a symposium next month to seek public comment.

In many respects, the local initiative would mirror the Clinton
administration's programs for cutting the drug problem in half by 2007, by
making the nation's children the focal point in the war on drugs. Last
year, the federal government spent nearly $18 billion on the White House
plan, which seeks to curb substance use through education, treatment and
law enforcement.

Local officials spent about $4 million on juvenile crime and

substance-use prevention programs last year, county records show. Bair
believes headway can be made in Carroll without an increase in taxpayer
spending.

"We've had government programs fighting this stuff since day one and we
haven't made much of a difference," Bair said. "If this is going to be
effective, it's got to be a partnership that includes teens, parents,
teachers, law enforcement officials, the business community and the faith
community. The commissioners would just be the titular head."

Several of the strategies detailed in Bair's report have been tried in
communities across the country - from Fort Worth, Texas, to Santa Barbara,
Calif. - with varying success.

A cornerstone of the most successful strategies is youth involvement,
experts say.

"It brings them to the dialogue. They become part of the problem-solving
process rather than just the focus of it," said Aaron Kipnis, a founding
member of Pro-youth Coalition in Santa Barbara. The group, which includes
clergy, educators, parents and elected officials, was formed five years ago
to curb youth violence.

Since the coalition's inception, juvenile crime in Santa Barbara, a city of
about 90,000, has dropped dramatically - from 400 incidents in 1995 to 40
last year, said Kipnis. Positive results also have been noted in Fort
Worth, where gang violence has dropped by half since 1995, when the Boys &
Girls Clubs of America began working with gang members, offering the youths
mentoring and recreational activities, said Frank Sanchez, who oversees
delinquency prevention programs for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America from
Atlanta.

"People are looking for a program that is the silver bullet. There isn't
one," said Sanchez. "We've found it takes a community approach. There has
to be support from the community - programs must be designed with the needs
and interests of the kids in mind."

The three-member Board of County Commissioners seems eager to devise a plan
of action for Carroll. When they took office in December 1998, the
commissioners vowed to reduce crime and substance use in the county.