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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.

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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.

Keeping Kids Out of Court - Kentucky's Plan

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Wednesday, December 18, 2013   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Keeping kids out of the court system altogether is at the heart of broad recommendations coming Thursday from Kentucky's Juvenile Code Task Force. The effort to reform the state's juvenile justice system is honing in on improving early intervention.

Front-end services are "essential to everything," said Lisa Jones, chief district judge in Daviess County. Not only would that reduce the number of juveniles being incarcerated or committed to the state, she said, but it's also good for the youth.

"That's often times what the family is wanting when they reach out for help to the courts or to the schools or to law enforcement," she said. "They're wanting services, they're wanting something to make it better."

Jones said "a good assessment" is most crucial.

Rep. John Tilley, D-Hopkinsville, a former prosecutor, agreed, adding that Kentucky is detaining "far too many low-level juvenile offenders" which is often "the worst possible outcome" for both the child and the taxpayers.

"Without proper identification of the problem, we continue to herd certain juveniles into certain categories and they end up in juvenile prison," he said. "That costs taxpayers between $87,000 and $91,000 per year."

That's the cost of locking up one child for a year.

Tilley, who chairs the state House Judiciary Committee, said the task force recommendations will be used to create some "specific" efforts at reform during the upcoming legislative session.

Among the ideas the Juvenile Code Task Force has considered are standardizing protocols with schools before seeking court involvement, clarifying the role of school resource officers, and enhancing diversion options. For instance, Jones said that Owensboro uses two emergency shelters.

"When you get that midnight phone call about a juvenile who's done something, you can look at placing them in an emergency shelter instead of incarcerating them," she said.

During their two years of work, task force members heard mounds of research which show that court intervention, secure detention and out-of-home placement can all do more damage than good when trying to get a youth back on track.

In Kentucky, Tilley said, studies show that probation violators and misdemeanor offenders are locked up, on average, only a month less than youth who commit felonies.

"We're putting very low-level offenders in with the most dangerous juvenile offenders, " he said, "and that creates more dangerous juvenile offenders. That's a bad thing."

To make reform work, Jones said, it's essential to educate people so they realize that locking up kids is "harmful."


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