Our View

Our View

Youth Justice Reform Board has potential

Criminal justice is certainly undergoing major changes for multiple reasons, including prison overcrowding, recidivism, rehabilitation, mental health issues, workforce training and, very importantly, crimes committed by juveniles and how they are handled by the courts.

We recently learned Crittenden County is playing a part in all this and is one of four counties selected by the Youth Justice Reform Board to lower the juvenile incarceration rate by interviewing troubled youths before they are sentenced by judges and by steering more dollars to community-based programs instead of residential facilities.

What this plan is doing is offering judges and juvenile justice officials a more complete picture of a child, such as mental health, family history, drug use and other factors through a risk assessment and behavioral screening, prior to punishment.

Sadly, there is no uniform method in how youth offenders are assessed when they enter the state’s juvenile justice system. The whole idea here is to now give judges, such as Circuit Judge Fred Thorne, a through assessment of a particular juvenile offender which could then be a factor in determining the degree of punishment. Supporters say the screening may deter judges from doling out so-called cookiecutter sentences to youths who commit the same types of offenses.

They say that over time, data from the screenings are intended to reveal which services are actually needed the most in dealing with a particular juvenile offender.

But, as in any worthwhile program, the success or failure will clearly depend on the judges and whether or not they buy into the idea. We can see some judges taking on this kinder and gentler approach in handling juvenile offenders while others remaining committed to a more tough love approach.

As Justice Rhonda Wood of the Arkansas Supreme Court pointed out at the recent Youth Justice Reform Board meeting, this is a game-changer for juvenile courts and the issue of just exactly how much is this new direction in dealing with juvenile offenders going to cost the taxpayers.

Right now the pilot program is only being offered in Pulaski, Faulkner, Craighead and Crittenden Counties.

We’re told that if it is proven to be successful, plans call for full statewide implementation by 2019.

What we are now seeing in all this are some of the results of a nearly year long plan to essentially reshape the juvenile justice system in Arkansas after separate investigations that found very concerning instances of abuse and misconduct at the state’s youth centers.

There is certainly real potential in what is taking place and what is being proposed. The fact that Crittenden County has been selected for this pilot program is certainly worth noting and we know our county’s juvenile court was selected based on a positive reaction from those individuals directly involved in the system and their commitment to making things better.