THERE is much news about juvenile crime and justice in Virginia, most of it involving depressing statistics that suggest incarcerated young offenders too often become repeat offenders: career criminals.
Those in a position to address the problem—lawmakers, juvenile justice officials, judges—are either mired in debate over how to reform the system or have their hands tied by what the law says they can or cannot do.
But there is a bright spot. A new report from the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice finds that efforts to redirect youthful offenders away from lives of crime are showing some promise. Overall criminal complaints against juveniles were down 1.7 percent in 2015. Cases of probation and parole violations, failure to appear in court and contempt of court were down 11 percent, while cases of identifying youth in need of supervision—those not yet charged, but at risk of harming others—were up 6 percent.
The report also found that hearings for involuntary commitment for mental-health treatment have risen significantly in each of the past two years. Perhaps that’s a result of the two high-profile suicide cases involving the sons of state Sen. Creigh Deeds of Bath County and former Sen. Edd Houck of Spotsylvania County.
The DJJ report indicates that the attention being paid to the issue in recent years is having some impact, though the effort clearly remains a work in progress. Simply identifying the causes of juvenile crime and recognizing the importance of dealing with young offenders as juveniles rather than adults are steps in the right direction. Initiatives on the state and local level that work together rather than at cross-purposes are also key.
A recent story in the Newport News Daily Press noted that Department of Juvenile Justice Director Andy Block has analyzed data from programs that have shown success elsewhere, with the goal of employing them in Virginia.
“We’re trying to protect the taxpayer dollar, to protect public safety and to try to give these kids a chance to get on the right path,” he told the Daily Press.
That’s a tall order. But the state has closed three of its juvenile prisons over the past three years, and the number of young people sent to those facilities dropped 14 percent in 2015, the Daily Press reported, the same year JJD officials reduced the harshest incarceration range from two to three years to nine to 15 months. Each youth is evaluated on his or her risk of committing another offense.
More offenders are being assigned to community facilities that are smaller and less costly to operate than larger juvenile prisons and keep the young offenders closer to home.
Just last month, The Free Lance–Star reported on local efforts to redirect the “school-to-prison” pipeline, which begins when school administrators call in law enforcement to deal with students who exhibit dangerous or threatening behavior. The hope is that between the schools, their school resource officers and the sheriff’s office, methods will be found to deal with some of these students’ disciplinary issues administratively by the schools and the students’ parents. This is serious business when the well-being of a school full of children hangs in the balance.
The point here is that once kids are incarcerated, especially in prisons with adult-like conditions, the die is cast. If there are alternative programs or community facilities to turn to, there’s a decent chance they’ll become contributors to society rather than lifelong burdens to the justice system and the taxpayers.
Washington, D.C., officials are apparently learning the hard way that going overboard with leniency toward juvenile offenders can be bad for the community. The Washington Post reported recently that since 2010, 121 defendants previously sentenced under the Youth Rehabilitation Act have been subsequently charged with murder. Those defendants account for 20 percent of all suspects charged in slayings in the city during that period.
The D.C. legislation, in effect since 1985, was well intended. But second chances were handed out in cases that involved guns and physical violence, to offenders who used their opportunity for freedom only as a new opportunity to commit crimes.
Getting juvenile justice right is a difficult and evolving challenge, but Virginia is working hard to find the right formula. Progress will mean not only safer communities, but also a more promising outlook for young people otherwise destined for a regrettable future.