In 2002,the League of Women Voters of Utah published a landmark 75 page Juvenile Justice study, describing the current stakeholders who promote and carry out the polices of the JJ system.  All major aspects of the system's complex organization were presented.  A flowchart of an offender's progress through the system was created to illustrate how the system functions.

Utah’s Juvenile Justice system is considered one of the nation’s best, but it is challenged by continuing concerns about the relationship between parental abuse and subsequent abuse by youth, an increasing number of female youth offenders, sex offenses, over-representation of minority youth, lack of programs in rural areas, and funding for evaluation of programs and services.

Based on the study material, the members of the League reach the following consensus postion on Juvenile Justice in Utah.

The League of Women Voters of Utah supports the three goals of the 2001 Utah Juvenile Justice system mission statement, "Balanced and Restorative Justice":

• protection of the public's right to live in a safe and secure setting;
• the obligation of an offender to restore to the victim and to the community the loss created by the offender's actions; and
• development while under the jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system of an offender's competency to be a responsible and productive citizen.
  

 
The League supports a Juvenile Justice system with:

• uniform access to programs and services statewide for the rehabilitation of all youth offenders, but tailored to urban/rural needs and relying on community resources;
  
• early risk assessment tools and early intervention schemes developed in conjunction with local police, schools, families and communities to help keep offenders out of the system with the caveat that there be frequent evaluation of these experimental programs for reliability, accuracy and validity, especially to ensure that minority youth are not negatively impacted;
  
• professional evaluation and assessment of all ongoing programs, services, staff and facilities, including their relationship to recidivism rates as well as budget and administrative considerations;
• retention of the current system organization with the Juvenile Court adminstering all probation activities and cooperating with the Division of Youth Corrections and with continuing oversight by the Auditor General.
   

We support Legislative action to improve the Juvenile Justice system by:

• providing more facilities and treatment options designed for female youth offenders;
• ensuring that minority youth receive unbiased and equal treatment in all aspects of the system, including intake;
  
• increasing treatment options for mentally ill offenders;
  
• increasing the number of attorneys and staff with juvenile justice expertise;
  
• ncreasing programs for youth in transition from secure care to parole in order to reduce recidivism;
  
• implementing the Auditor General’s recommendation to recognize and stabilize funding for the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Consortium as the system’s research and evaluation agency;
  
• reducing placements of youth out-of-state, where adequate monitoring is impossible.

As far back as 1852, Utah revealed its concern for orphaned and neglected children as well as for maintaining a separate system of justice for young offenders.  Today, Utah has a unique, freestanding juvenile court whose judges specialize in juvenile court work and do not rotate to other benches. It should also be noted that Utah considers juvenile delinquent acts to be civil offenses rather than criminal.  This study brings out the concerted effort by all agencies to work cooperatively to find the best programs and services aimed at rehabilitating each child.

In spite of the fact that Utah's Juvenile Justice System is considered to be one of the best in the nation, many concerns remain.  For example:  The relationship between parental abuse and subsequent abuse by youth, the increase in the relative number of delinquent girls and sex offenses, continued over-representation of minority juveniles, the need for better programs in rural areas, difficulties with uniform sentencing across the state and the need for funding to support development of outcome measure of existing programs, etc.
The juvenile justice system was seriously impacted by the 1997 new "sentencing guidelines" and the associated adoption of a new "state supervision" sanction.  These promoted the new philosophy of "early intervention" in the life of a juvenile offender and prompted development of a more "graduated system of sanctions."  This report highlights the resulting increase in probation's responsibilities and growth in the Division of Youth Corrections (DYC), which now manages, directly or indirectly, a large number of physical facilities for juvenile offenders.

This report includes an unbiased presentation of the two important audits in 1999 an 2001, the many serious recommendations by the legislative auditor general and his staff, as well as responses by the different branches of the juvenile justice system.  Many recommendations from these audits are the bases for new initiatives, including development of "risks and needs assessment tools," better coordination and communications between agencies, and the adoption of a single mission statement for all.  It describes Utah's endorsement of the national philosophy of a "balanced and restorative justice model," namely protection of the community, accountability through restitution to victims and competency development.  Yet to be addressed is the auditor's recommendation to better define the roles of the judicial and executive branches of the system, especially in the management of the field probation department.

To illustrate how the juvenile justice system functions, this report presents a flowchart of an offender, starting from the time of arrest to final possible dispositions.  The reader can participate in individual court cases, in youth parole authority hearings and a description of a secure facility.