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| Juvenile female inmates increase |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 11/29/2004 |
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One out of every four juvenile offenders in Florida is female, marking a sharp increase in the number of girls in the juvenile justice system, state officials said. Between 1993 and 2003 in Florida, the number of girls placed in the state's juvenile justice system for committing violent crimes rose 24 percent, said Kelley Gandy, an operations management consultant with the Department of Juvenile Justice. Florida has 1,914 girls younger than 16 being held for violent crimes, state records show. The number of boys committed for violent crimes increased by only 2 percent during that 10-year span. Both corrections officials and others who work with troubled female teens say most girls placed in detention facilities were either sexually or physically violated or witnessed violence against another family member. "We need to look at the trauma in a girl's past," said Lawanda Ravoira, president and CEO of Jacksonville's PACE Center for Girls, a nationally known day program for girls who are at risk. It also has a center in Daytona Beach. PACE helps an average of 2,000 girls a year across the state, Ravoira said. The nonresidential program targets the causes behind a girl's bad behavior and strives to include the child's family, Ravoira said. About 70 percent of delinquent girls committed in the juvenile justice system have a history of sexual abuse, and many began sexual activity at an earlier age than other girls. The abuse often led to depression or eating disorders. |
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