Juvenile Justice System – New York

Why are more Monroe County kids in the juvenile justice system?, By Denise-Marie Santiago, May 2, 2010, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: “With his handcuffs off and a guard trailing him, Calvin didn’t look at the judge when he first walked into Monroe County Family Court. The lanky 17-year-old made a beeline to his mother that morning in March to kiss her, before standing with his attorney to hear how much more time he would serve in a juvenile facility for being caught a second time in a stolen car a year earlier. In Buffalo, he might still be at home and serving probation for the misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle. Syracuse officials may have diverted Calvin’s case to a program that keeps him with his family while providing services to get him back on track. In Monroe County, though, judges have long sent away more juvenile delinquents and persons in need of supervision, or PINS, to secure and nonsecure facilities than Buffalo’s Erie County and Syracuse’s Onondaga County combined. Monroe County is also more likely to keep them for a time in a local detention facility, rather than release them to their families, before their cases come to court. And among the 10 counties that place the most juvenile delinquents in state custody, according to a study of New York’s juvenile justice system, Monroe leads in disproportionately placing African-Americans…”