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| Conn. lawmaker calls for investigation of juvenile recidivism |
| By Newsday |
| Published: 01/24/2005 |
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A Connecticut Senate leader is calling for an investigation into why so many youths are committing more crimes after being released from the Connecticut Juvenile Training School. A preliminary study shows that more than 50 percent of boys sent to the new juvenile correctional center in Middletown are getting into trouble again within six months of being released. Donald E. Williams Jr., president pro tem of the state Senate, asked Child Advocate Jeanne Milstein to investigate why the recidivism rate is so high. Williams said it was difficult to understand why so many youths were getting into trouble again so quickly at a time when the training school is getting tens of millions of dollars from the state each year for programs and staffing. Other states that have had 50 percent recidivism rates for juvenile offenders, such as Missouri and Oregon, reduced their percentages to the low teens or single digits by sending youths to small group homes and foster care programs instead of large, prison-like centers. The smaller settings usually run at a fraction of the cost of larger institutions. While some states have closed their large juvenile detention centers completely, there has been little support in the Connecticut legislature to close the Middletown facility, which cost $57 million to build and has been plagued with problems since it opened three years ago. The cost to house one youth at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School for one year is about $514,000. The Department of Children and Families, which runs the facility, reduced its population to 70 from 150 last summer to allow officials to restructure programs and provide more training to workers. Preliminary data from the child advocate's office, DCF and other agencies show that more than half of boys released from the training school between June 1 and Aug. 31 had run-ins with the law within six months, Williams said. |
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