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| Report: Florida facility tops nation in treating violent youth |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 06/15/2001 |
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A juvenile camp in the remote backwoods northwest of Lake Okeechobee is the nation's leading facility for turning around violent young criminals, according to a report released recently. The Florida Environmental Institute, known as the Last Chance Ranch, is highlighted in a study by the nonpartisan American Youth Policy Forum as one of eight 'innovative' juvenile corrections programs that reduce youth crime and save taxpayers money. The study said the central Florida facility has established an impressive track record for rehabilitating serious and violent youthful offenders. According to the report, 16 percent of teens released from the Last Chance Ranch from 1997 to 2000 were found guilty of another crime in the first year, compared to a statewide re-conviction rate of more than 40 percent for serious offenders. It also said the program was more expensive than juvenile detention centers, but still saved taxpayers $3 million over three years because the teens were less likely to commit another crime and return to the system. The data came from the state Department of Juvenile Justice, said the report's author Richard Mendel. He claims Florida has ignored programs such as the Last Chance Ranch in favor of placing youths in high-capacity detention facilities. 'There is such a huge gap between what we know works and what we do. Florida is a prime example of that,' Mendel said. 'The Last Chance Ranch has been working for 20 years. But rather than support it, they do this sound-tough thing.' But a Juvenile Justice spokeswoman said 60 percent of the youths in its system are sent to residential programs, such as halfway houses, boot camps and wilderness camps such as the Last Chance Ranch. 'The numbers alone dispute an assertion that we are placing juveniles in prison-type facilities,' said spokeswoman Catherine Arnold. The privately run camp in the southern Highlands County town of Venus has only 22 beds. It favors high staffing levels and a remote location to fences and locked cells. Five participants have escaped in its 21-year history, said Maggie Baxter, spokeswoman for Associated Marine Institutes, which oversees the facility and several others in the state. The detainees are high-risk offenders, meaning they committed felony crimes such as assault and robbery, usually with a firearm. The average length of their sentences are a year to 18 months. Teens study and do physical labor, including raising cattle, growing crops and maintaining the facility. They earn credits toward release based on their behavior. Then for six months after they return home, a counselor helps their transition into society. |
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