Closing juvenile detention facilities not a wise move

Our View

Closing juvenile detention facilities not a wise move

There are two key points to this effort by an activist group, calling itself Youth First, to boarding up at least 80 of what it calls “notorious” juvenile detention facilities, including one in Arkansas.

First of all, and from a local perspective, if West Memphis is any indication of what the NIMBY concept means, the chances of establishing what this group is assuming to be the “better alternative” by creating “community-based rehabilitation centers” will be slim-to-none.

By the way, NIMBY is an acronym for the phrase “Not In My Back Yard,” and is a pejorative characterization of opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development because it is close to them, often with the connotation that such residents believe that the development, or in this case a juvenile rehabilitation center, are needed but should be located elsewhere.

A perfect example of such a project is right here in West Memphis where Crittenden County Judge Woody Wheeless and state officials want to establish a low-risk rehabilitation facility in the now-abandoned old Crittenden Regional Hospital.

And the other point with this “Kinder and Gentler” approach to dealing with juvenile delinquents is this ridiculous “one-size-fits-all” mentality. Let us clarify our point by explaining that Arkansas’ lockup in Alexander is the state’s oldest juvenile-detention center, established in 1905, and houses the most behaviorally troubled and violent youths in the state’s system.

It is totally unrealistic to close a secure facility that deals with violent offenders and put them in a socalled low-risk community-based rehabilitation center and actually think there will be no serious issues or consequences.

We have to support Youth Services Director Marcus Devine’s position that closing the center at Alexander or any of the state’s eight other youth detention facility is simply not realistic.

Devine, who is also chairman of a Juvenile Justice Reform Board that was created by Gov. Asa Hutchinson last year, did said the governor has asked the board to recommend changes in the juvenile-justice system in time for the upcoming 2017 legislative session.

While he did admit that “nothing is off the table,” he went on to explain that he does not support closing Alexander or just close the other facilities, and added that what this advocacy group is pushing for is simply not a reality for Arkansas.

Devine did say Arkansas has taken a number of steps toward change, and in 2011 capacity at the Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center was reduced from 143 beds to 100 beds, every educational and service facility in the center was refurbished, funding toward community-based providers and services was bolstered, and the length of stays was reduced by 77 percent.

And, we’re told, the Alexander facility is the largest overseen by the state, and it is the primary intake center for children committed to state custody.

Furthermore, and as we have pointed out, we doubt very seriously that youth rehabilitation facilities would be welcome in most communities based on the reaction of those opposing a low-risk, non-violent women’s’ rehabilitation facility in West Memphis that will create 140 well-paying jobs and responsible for pouring millions of dollars in the community’s economy.

BIBLE VERSE

His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

5:22-23

Proverbs