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| More youths locked up, study finds |
| By Chicago Tribune |
| Published: 01/12/2004 |
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Despite a steady decline in arrests of juveniles for violent crimes, the number of youths who are locked up while awaiting trial has soared nationwide, according to a national report released Wednesday. Nationwide, juvenile arrests for violent crimes dropped almost 60 percent from 1994 to 2000, while the number held in locked detention centers increased about 72 percent. Most are held on non-violent charges, and more than half are age 15 or younger, the report said. The report, issued by the Washington-based Coalition for Juvenile Justice, criticized a national "over-reliance" on secure detention facilities for juveniles. It also points to Cook County (Ill.) and its use of alternative detention programs, such as home confinement and centers where juveniles can go in the evenings, as a leading example of how youths should be handled. "Throughout the United States, we too often lock away children upon arrest, before they've had a hearing," said John Dewese, national chair of the coalition. "But the decision to place them behind bars can backfire." Juveniles who are locked up while awaiting trial are exposed to violent criminals, sending them back into society with more anger and desire to do harm, the report said. But justice systems like Cook County's that divert non-violent juveniles who aren't flight risks into alternative programs while they await trial ultimately save money and improve the youth's chances for positive change, Dewese said. He said authorities tend to use detention facilities as "holding pens" for juveniles, when they can't figure out where else to put them. "That's not a solution. Youth should be placed in the least restrictive, appropriate environment and be removed from secure detention as quickly as possible," Dewese said. Since adopting the Illinois Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative in 1994, Cook County has cut by 40 percent the number of juveniles who have been locked up, without any increase in youth crime, the report stated. In fact, youth arrests for violent crimes fell 54 percent in Cook County from 1993 to 1999, according to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, cited in the report. About 90 percent of the juveniles who go through the programs in Cook County also remain arrest-free and attend their court hearings while in the program. That's proof, officials said, that you don't have to lock up most youths to keep them out of trouble. |
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