Bill proposes separating juvenile system

[Soldier4Christ]

BY: ANDREA HAHN
The Southern

State legislators this week may have the opportunity to create a new Department of Juvenile Justice.

Senate Bill 92 is expected to be called for consideration during the fall legislative session and, if enacted as law, it would separate the juvenile justice system from the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The bill has wide support among a list of organizations ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois to the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police to the United Way of Illinois and the Illinois Chapter of the American Association of Pediatrics.

Among the local supporters of the bill is Judge George Timberlake, chief judge of the Second Judicial Circuit in Mount Vernon. He said the main reason he supports separating juvenile and adult justice is that the present system is simply not working.

"The current position is that, yes, we left rehabilitation a long time ago and focus on security - but we can do better with more money," he said. "However, because the system is for adults, we have mini-prisons for the juveniles. They use the same security features. The juveniles get lost in the system."

As proof that the current system is failing, Timberlake refers to the juvenile recidivism rate. About 47 percent of juvenile offenders become offenders again and are returned to the juvenile justice system. That figure, Timberlake said, does not include those who return to the justice system as adults. Including that number would push the recidivism rate higher still.

"There is no research to show that incarceration changes behavior," he said. "What we have missed is parole."

Timberlake said a separate department is needed to focus on the individualized needs of youth offenders.

More emphasis is needed on returning youths to the community rather than on incarcerating them, he said.

Material Timberlake provided supporting the bill noted that 39 states have separated the juvenile and adult justice systems with no increased expense to the state. In fact, some states have been able to save money, he said.

Missouri, the model the Illinois bill was based on, has a much lower juvenile recidivism and does it on a budget less than half that in Illinois.

In Missouri, the recidivism rate is 15 percent, 8 percent of which is for repeat offenses. The balance is for technical parole violations.

According to the Missouri Division of Youth Services, which handles juvenile justice, 32 residential facilities resembling group homes house 1,277 juvenile offenders (in 2004) at a per capita cost ranging from $113 to $150 a day.

According to the IDOC, eight facilities house 1,603 offenders (in 2004) at a per capita cost of $180 a day. That is $64,406 per year per juvenile offender - considerably more than one year's college tuition.

Anders Lindall, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) said the union is opposed to the bill because they feel it is being hustled into the legislative process without all valid questions being answered.

"We have some very serious concerns about it," he said. "The bill would, in our view, simply recreate the red tape of administration with no additional resources for education and other programs."

One of the primary questions AFSCME and those who don't support the bill would like answered is how a newly created department can expect to provide quality programs to help youthful offenders and still fund the necessary administration to accompany a new department.

"They propose to create a brand new department with all the administrative support that would have to be built from the ground up," he said. "Even so, they say they don't need a penny more they'll need all the money for administration - what will happen to the programs?"

Timberlake said the existing administrative structure that functions within IDOC would remain intact as it became a new department. In addition, though the bill calls for educational minimums for direct-care employees, current employees would be grandfathered in through the transitional period. Training opportunities would be made available to get those that need more education up to speed.

While Lindall agreed that the juvenile recidivism rate is disappointing, he said there is a simple cause -the juvenile division has suffered years of budget cutbacks. He said the recidivism rate began rising when state funding began dropping.

"It's really a matter of leadership," he said. "If the state won't show the leadership to invest in programs for juvenile offenders, it doesn't matter what name is on the door."