Local law enforcement officials see drop in juvenile crime, By Jim Morrison, January 2, 2013, Boston Globe: ” Are today’s youngsters more likely to stay out of trouble? From prosecutors to police officers on the street to the state Department of Youth Services, there is consensus that juvenile crime has declined in this region as well as the rest of the state.Overall, juvenile crime is down 37 percent in Massachusetts from 2009 to 2011, according to a recent report by Citizens for Juvenile Justice, a research and advocacy group in Boston. The drop corresponds with data in the FBI’s nationwide crime reports that show that crime is down in all categories across the country…”
Tag: Juvenile justice
Child Welfare Privatization – Nebraska
Foster care still reeling from privatization, By Martha Stoddard, December 1, 2012, Omaha World-Herald: “Nebraska’s child welfare system is still suffering from the instability caused by the state’s privatization experiment, according to a report released Friday. The Foster Care Review Office’s annual report on children in out-of-home care found concerning levels of caseworker turnover, missing documentation and a lack of complete case plans during 2011 and the first half of this year. All three problems worsened after the state attempted to turn over major responsibilities for managing child welfare and juvenile justice cases to private contractors…”
Juvenile Justice System – New Jersey
Number of minors in N.J. youth detention centers declined significantly, report shows, By Matt Friedman, October 24, 2012, Star-Ledger: “A new report shows that the number of minors in the counties’ youth detention centers has declined by more than half since New Jersey implemented a program to divert them to alternatives in 2004, saving the state an estimated $16 million. The report, issued today by Advocates for Children in New Jersey, studied the effect of the eight-year-old Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. ‘New Jersey’s juvenile justice system is, by and large, smarter, safer and savings taxpayer dollars,’ according to the report, which noted that just 3 percent of youth re-offend while participating in the program. For children arrested but not deemed a threat to public safety, the program changes the focus from locking them up to alternative means of supervision, like electronic monitoring and home visits. It also provides them with job training, counseling services and other services…”