LWVU POSITION ON JUVENILE JUSTICE
2003
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.
Utahs
Juvenile Justice system is considered one of the nations 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.
League of Women Voters of Utah Juvenile
Justice Study Abstract
January
2003
This
landmark study describes the current players who promote and carry
out the polices of the "Juvenile Justice System."
The study describes all major aspects of the system's complex
organization; it's major components and their critical functions
and responsibilities.
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.
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