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| Juvenile crime down in South Carolina |
| By greenvilleonline.com |
| Published: 09/08/2009 |
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COLUMBIA – When former Family Court Judge William Byars first walked into his new job as director of the state Department of Juvenile Justice more than six years ago, juvenile delinquency seemed to be a problem the state couldn’t handle. More than 27,000 cases had been referred to the DJJ system that year, almost 1,400 youth were sleeping in DJJ beds that fall and the state was ensnared in a lengthy federal lawsuit over conditions at state facilities. Byars worked to get the state out of the lawsuit the following year, paired with Clemson University, churches and other agencies to begin programs aimed at diverting youth from detention and beefed up community supervision with intensive probation officers and volunteer supervisors for less troublesome youth. By 2008, it seemed the tide had turned. Overall case referrals dropped by more than 3,000 and were dropping by 3 percent per year, according to the agency. Diversion programs meant that fewer than 300 were sent to be locked up in Columbia. Of the juvenile offenders returned to their communities, 86 percent stayed out of trouble. Even last fall, when Byars said economic problems should have meant an upswing in juvenile crime and the number of youth detained, the surge didn’t happen. “This is contrary to conventional wisdom,” he said. “Juvenile crime is going down. Yes, there are gangs, and we've got to be able to fight that. And there are guns out there. But overall, juvenile crime has gone down 20 percent in six and a half years.” Read More. |
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