Still shocked by two highly publicized gang-related shootings, the Utah Legislature went into special session in October to try to solve problems that have been mushrooming for nearly a decade.
In an effort to "get tough" with criminal-minded gangsters, legislators made some changes in the way Utah's juvenile courts and Youth Corrections deal with youngsters.Officials from both Youth Corrections and Juvenile Court have been pleading annually with legislators for more money as rising juvenile crime and population deplete their resources.
From 1988 to 1993, the number of youths at risk in Utah grew by about 16 percent, while the number of youths admitted to secure detention programs grew by 35 percent.
In fiscal year 1993, the Salt Lake Detention Center exceeded licensed capacity on 98 percent of all nights, while MOWEDA Youth Home in Roy was over capacity on 51 percent during the same period. Other Youth Corrections programs like Observation and Assessment and Out of Home Community Placement programs have grown steadily since 1987.
In a budget hearing, Youth Corrections officials told Gov. Mike Leavitt they've been starved for resources since 1987. Division Director Gary Dalton hopes this year to get more money, although he admits he won't get all he needs.
"We had to prioritize," Dalton said. "The farther down the list of priorities we go, the better chance we won't get funding."
Treatment programs for teenage sex offenders are one of the things that fall lower on the list. They are also expensive, with a price tag of about $900,000. The Commission on Crime and Juvenile Justice told the state sentencing commission that the largest group of sex offenders are adolescents - 42 percent are 19 or younger.
The lack of resources allows some kids to slip through the cracks. Rightnow 17 juveniles are waiting in the Salt Lake Detention Center for beds at Decker Lake Youth Correctional Facility. While they wait, they aren't getting into the treatment they need, nor are they serving their sentences in the intended environment.
"The system works fairly well," Dalton said. "Our dilemma is that we've had seven to 10 years where resources haven't kept pace with the number of kids coming into the system. Essentially, it's the saturation of the sponge."
Underfunding has also caused a backlog of the Youth Corrections system. Bill Nelsen, director of Youth Corrections' Region II (which includes Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties), said that a decade ago less-serious juvenile offenders were sent to secure facilities because of ample bed space.
Today, teenage criminals have more convictions and commit more severe crimes before they ever spend time in a lock-up situation, he said. The result: Some of the kids on probation today would have gone to a juvenile jail for the same crimes 10 years ago.
The population served in Observation and Assessment - a Youth Corrections program that evaluates the needs of teenagers - has grown 59 percent in the past six years. Region II needs 30 additional secure beds and 30 detention beds "just to keep up with the population and the nature of the offender today," Nelsen said.
"Youth Corrections has the responsibility to deal with only the most delinquent youth," he added. "Not every kid needs to be locked up."
Alternatives to locking kids up are badly needed, especially in lieu of detention, Nelsen said. With waiting lists for many critical programs, Dalton plans on having some of those alternative programs in place after the legislative session in January.
Dalton said programs like residential and non-residential work programs, wilderness programs, boot-camp programs and electronic monitoring programs combine supervision with community service.
"I think you can expect to see some kind of boot-camp program developed within the next year," said Dalton.
The division is considering both state-run and privately operated options.
One House measure, HB3, provides for the establishment of work programs for offenders ranging in age from 12 to 21. That requirement, Dalton said, means the division needs money to develop those programs.
Changes may also come to the Salt Lake Detention Center in the form of who gets locked up there. Region II is the only area where the guidelines governing which kids can be locked up in detention are stricter than state guidelines. The federal court order mandating those stricter admittance rules, called "the consent decree," has been a bone of contention for law enforcement and community leaders for years.
But several months ago, a motion was filed in federal court to vacate part of the consent decree. If it's granted, the division will have to accept juveniles it can now turn away. For Dalton and Nelsen, that means coming up with alternatives to detention for those who aren't a danger to society.
The division is asking for money to develop an electronic monitoring program so kids can live at home but still be intensely supervised. A plan pushed by Leavitt in the special session will provide 80 beds at what was once Lone Peak Minimum Security Facility at the state prison.
Most of the kids housed at the Draper facility will come from detention and will participate in a work-camp program anywhere from four to seven months. It is not a secure facility like Decker Lake.
Another bill passed during the special session took the authority from juvenile court judges to commit teens directly to detention. Instead, judges commit teens to the custody of Youth Corrections, and officials there place the teens in detention.
Though this change has caused problems for some judges and corrections officials, those in the 3rd District have tried very hard to follow the new rules, Nelsen said.
"We recognize that judges should have the authority to make that determination. Hopefully, we can provide options to judges."
Nelsen believes judges also want alternatives to detention lock-up for kids who won't be best served by it. And while most everyone agrees there is a need for more lock-up facilities, there also have to be more preventative programs.
Many inner-city Salt Lake schools are opening earlier and staying open longer as well as offering breakfast and dinner to students. Schools also are offering classes - including parenting and high school courses - to residents.
The gang task force recommended spending more money to put drug education officers in every elementary and junior high school. Additional funding has been requested for resource officers in all high schools.
The governor offered a booklet that would help neighborhoods organize and protect themselves against crime. PTSA and school community groups are coming up with ideas to give kids things to do after school. Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini gathered funding and support from local businesses to operate a late-night basketball program.
Officials from Youth Corrections and the Division of Family Services also have programs they've asked legislators to consider funding, including mentors to at-risk kids and first-time offenders and employment opportunities for welfare recipients. And there are many more programs being funded both publicly and privately.
With what seems like a plethora of community prevention programs, why are more young people committing an increased number of serious and violent crimes?
"We're just treating the symptom - crime - and we treat it by incarceration," Nelsen said. "The crime is a symptom of poverty, racism, lack of opportunity and lack of good parenting. Without providing means for people to overcome these things, society is going to get worse before it gets better."
Nelsen said he feels the young people between the ages of 18 and 25 are those being missed by the current system. "There's nothing in between the juvenile system and the adult system."
He'd like to see programs that would help youths acquire vocational skills.
"Every kid who's locked up today will eventually be released," he said. "We have to have the resources to provide these services if they're going to be productive citizens when they get out."
Communities also need to develop programs for toddlers while they're still developing their values and attitudes, Nelsen said.
Second District Juvenile Judge Diane Wilkins said juveniles get lost in two areas: efforts to keep the family together and efforts to prevent problems like alcohol and drug abuse.
"That's where we have the most dramatic loss of kids," Wilkins said. As agencies become strapped for funds, family preservation and prevention programs are the first to go.
Children also get lost because there's not sufficient foster care or mental health counseling for them, said Wilkins, adding that they have no help sorting through emotional problems and often must stay in destructive family environments.
"We don't have enough money to meet the needs we are finding out there."
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(Additional story)
New youth-crime laws from special session
The following are juvenile-crime bills passed by the state Legislature in October's special session and are now law: Senate bills
- SB1 - Requires Youth Corrections to notify juvenile court, which in turn must notify law enforcement and a child's school of home detention or probation. - SB2 - Provides penalties for people providing firearms to a minor or failing to make a reasonable effort to keep firearms from a minor's possession.
- SB3 - Opens juvenile court proceedings for cases involving minors 16 years or older charged with a felony.
- SB4 - Automatically moves a juvenile to adult court on a second charge involving a dangerous weapon.
- SB5 - Prohibits the sale of firearms to juveniles, unless accompanied by parent or guardian.
- SB8 - Grants the district court exclusive original jurisdiction over aggravated murder cases when the defendant is 16 years or older. Also permits the direct filing to the district court by the prosecutor when a minor is 16 or older accused of committing murder, using a dangerous weapon in the commission of criminal homicide, attempted criminal homicide, first-degree felonies or capital offenses.
- SB11 - Limits the amount of time law enforcement has to file citations or formal referrals of minors to the juvenile justice system.
House bills
- HB1 - Requires a parent or legal guardian to attend court proceedings when a child must appear in court.
- HB3 - Provides for the establishment of work camps for youth offenders.
- HB5 - Provides for mandatory revocation of one year of a person's driver's license for discharging a firearm or using an explosive, chemical or incendiary device from a vehicle.
- HB12 - Allows the distribution of photographs and fingerprints of juveniles to agencies other than state or local law enforcement agencies.
- HB13 - Appropriates specific money for juvenile reform, including anti-gang measures and new probation officers.
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(Chart)
Youth Corrections
Percent of youths who turned 18 during 1992 in each program.
Secure detention 99.4%
Home detention 20.2%
Observation & Assessment 76.4%
Community alternative 91.6%
Secure facility 40.4%
Hospital 9.6%
Jail 18.0%
AWOL 52.2%