YOUTH FACILITY MAY SHAVE HOURS

PALMER -- Proposed budget cuts in the Division of Juvenile Justice could
shut down the Mat-Su Youth Facility as an overnight detention center,
officials said Tuesday.

Some services would continue to be available, though 13 staff members would
potentially be laid off, said Bob Fedoroff, superintendent at McLaughlin
Youth Facilities, who oversees the Mat-Su detention center.

"The House Finance Committee is asking that we reduce our [division's]
budget by about $1 million," Fedoroff said. "We are looking at reducing
operations at the Mat-Su Youth Facility, which is a 24-hour detention
center and a probation night school. That would eliminate all but a
community [daytime] detention program."

Administrators were asked to cut $986,700 from the Division of Juvenile
Justice budget. It costs $1,115,500 to run the Mat-Su Facility, which made
it a likely source. The rationale was that its proximity to Anchorage makes
it less crucial as a youth holding center than a similar facility at Nome,
for example, Fedoroff said.

After cuts, $128,800 would remain to operate the center, which isn't enough
to operate the facility and pay a staff of six to run a day program,
Fedoroff said.

As it now functions, the youth facility is a 24-hour holding center for
juveniles in trouble with the law. They remain there until the court takes
action, which might mean release or a long-term program. It holds up to 15
teens at a time and youths stay an average of 35 days, said Ray Michaelson,
superintendent of the center.

The center served more than 200 youths between the ages of 12 and 17 last
year, he said.

"Our focus here is not punitive so much as aimed at prevention. If I have
their undivided attention for 35 days, I want them to leave with something
better than they arrived with," Michaelson said.

The center offers a victim's impact class to teach the young people how
victims feel when a crime is committed against them. Alcohol and substance
abuse programs and a school curriculum engage residents on a daily basis. A
night probation school operates for youth outside the facility.

"DJJ has to get at the root causes of juvenile behavior and offer support
they need to follow," Michaelson said. "These young people are well worth
the investment."

State Sen. Lyda Green, R-Mat-Su, who sits on the House Finance Committee,
is aware of the proposed budget cuts at Mat-Su, said Jerry Burnett, finance
committee staff for Green.

"Certainly, she is aware and concerned, but how the budget turns out at the
end is still up in the air," Burnett said.

At the end of the final budgeting process, the amount of money appropriated
to the division could be an entirely different amount than what is predicted.

The division will figure out how it wants to distribute the funds, he said.

"It would be premature to comment at this time," Burnett said.

Yet officials who run the facility are concerned.

"There has been a lot of community support for that facility," Fedoroff
said. "When kids are detained here [at McLaughlin] rather than at Mat-Su,
it makes it more difficult to retain ties to their community and their
parents. Visiting becomes difficult. Drug and alcohol treatment is one
example of what they are able to receive right there and by having those
services provided by community agencies, it makes for a better transition
back into the community."

Sean Owens, district probations supervisor with DJJ, said a big problem
with cutting services at the center is that valuable police time will again
be used to transport youths to Anchorage.

"Juveniles would not be in their own community -- that's another big
problem," Owens said. "If a juvenile is institutionalized for long term,
that wouldn't change. They would still go to McLaughlin. What would change
is the services for kids that don't need that high degree of structure or
who have cases pending."

Juveniles convicted of a DWI, for example, are often able to serve their
time at the Mat-Su center, Owens said.

They are able to meet with their probation officer, who is assigned as soon
as the police issue a report on the charges.

Probation officers from the beginning are able to help courts resolve cases
by helping to decide whether or not formal court action is appropriate.
Probation officers might come to an agreement with an offender to drop
charges in exchange for probation supervision. "Or the case might be
formally adjudicated and the person will be placed on probation," Owens said.

If the center cuts staff and programs, the role of the facility will be
drastically reduced, staff at the center said.

"The community has said they want the detention center here, that we need
to be in the Valley," Michaelson said. "I hope the Legislature will do the
right thing."