skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Fewer Kids Incarcerated in Utah, U.S.

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 27, 2013   

SALT LAKE CITY - A report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows a big drop in the number of youths behind bars - and, at the same time, juvenile crime rates also are down.

Utah saw a 20 percent decrease in its youth incarceration rate from 1997 to 2010, according to the report. However, Susan Burke, director of the state Division of Juvenile Justice Systems, said state budget cuts could reverse the trend. Some service hours have been cut back and the agency might have to close facilities in Blanding and Cedar City.

"It's ultimately going to end up with more kids locked up for more serious offenses," she said, "because we're not able to give them the help that they need, when they need it."

Even as Utah looks at alternatives to incarceration for young people, state lawmakers are considering Senate Bill 218, which would require a broader funding base for receiving centers and youth service centers. Burke said she isn't sure that's possible.

"In the more rural areas where resources are very limited," she said, "those communities just have not been able to contribute. So my concern is that, if the Legislature intends that every center has a broad base of funding support, we could be in trouble in some of those areas that just don't have the local resources to do so."

Burke said she is proud of the progress in the system, including more comprehensive screening of young people at the local centers and a new pilot program that allows some youths to remain at home to receive services.

Laura Speer, the Casey Foundation's associate director of policy and research, said Utah, as other states, has learned that detention is an expensive and often ineffective strategy when three-quarters of the young people locked up are there for nonviolent offenses.

"They have a chance to get their lives back on track," she said, "and so we want to make sure they get put in the best possible program to get them back on track."

The report said 684 youths were incarcerated in Utah in 2010, down from 768 in 1997. While the numbers have declined nationwide, the report notes that the United States still locks up juveniles at a rate far higher than does any other industrialized nation.

The report, “Reducing Youth Incarceration in the United States,” is online at aecf.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021