Pinthouse Pizza
Incarceration Alternatives
RECEIVED Mon., March 11, 2024
Dear Editor,
As a 50-year semi-retired juvenile and criminal justice and corrections professional, and as founder and executive director emeritus of the Council on At-Risk Youth (CARY), and as a Travis County taxpayer, I must question Brant Bingamon's Jan. 26 article, "The Debate Over How and Whether to Jail Kids in Austin is Just Getting Started," why there is a need for Travis County commissioners to expend millions of dollars for a new non-secure juvenile facility to house youngsters, who don't need secure housing.
First, we must question whether it is cost-efficient and programatically effective to have another juvenile lockup. Bingamon states that the Gardner-Betts and the Jean Meurer facilities are being used at about 1/4 to 1/3 capacity according to Texas Juvenile Justice Department ratings. If so, and if the need can be validated by outside experts, then perhaps consider remodeling and recycling existing facilities. However, the Texas Legislative Budget Board vouches for 65% recidivism rates (re-arrest after three years) for adjudicated juvenile probationers, and up to almost 75% recidivism rates for local community-based residential facilities. Surely, there is a more cost-efficient way that will produce improved outcomes for our delinquent youth.
Second, we find that troublesome, disciplinary students in public school, who are in the "school pipeline to prison" can be treated in a most cost-effective manner at a rate of less than $1,000 per school year (two semesters), when high-risk youth are living at home, and being maintained in the public-school setting. Youth are referred to CARY by school principals/assistant principals and students participate voluntarily, with parental consent. Aggressive and abusive disciplinary youth are pulled from elective classes (not academic classes) twice weekly to participate in small group settings, with MA-level youth advisers leading in skills training in interpersonal communications, problem/conflict resolution and anger management training. Outcome measures tally improved school attendance rates, decreased disciplinary reports, improved grades and fewer referrals to Travis County justice officials. Parents, school officials, and students give the CARY program very high ratings with each annual review.
By comparison, it is evident that pursuit of a plan that engages non-adjudicated, but troublesome youth in "evidence based" violence, crime and delinquency prevention interventions, that are home-based and in-school, would be far more economically and programatically effective than exorbitant spending to build and operate another juvenile facility.
As a 50-year semi-retired juvenile and criminal justice and corrections professional, and as founder and executive director emeritus of the Council on At-Risk Youth (CARY), and as a Travis County taxpayer, I must question Brant Bingamon's Jan. 26 article, "The Debate Over How and Whether to Jail Kids in Austin is Just Getting Started," why there is a need for Travis County commissioners to expend millions of dollars for a new non-secure juvenile facility to house youngsters, who don't need secure housing.
First, we must question whether it is cost-efficient and programatically effective to have another juvenile lockup. Bingamon states that the Gardner-Betts and the Jean Meurer facilities are being used at about 1/4 to 1/3 capacity according to Texas Juvenile Justice Department ratings. If so, and if the need can be validated by outside experts, then perhaps consider remodeling and recycling existing facilities. However, the Texas Legislative Budget Board vouches for 65% recidivism rates (re-arrest after three years) for adjudicated juvenile probationers, and up to almost 75% recidivism rates for local community-based residential facilities. Surely, there is a more cost-efficient way that will produce improved outcomes for our delinquent youth.
Second, we find that troublesome, disciplinary students in public school, who are in the "school pipeline to prison" can be treated in a most cost-effective manner at a rate of less than $1,000 per school year (two semesters), when high-risk youth are living at home, and being maintained in the public-school setting. Youth are referred to CARY by school principals/assistant principals and students participate voluntarily, with parental consent. Aggressive and abusive disciplinary youth are pulled from elective classes (not academic classes) twice weekly to participate in small group settings, with MA-level youth advisers leading in skills training in interpersonal communications, problem/conflict resolution and anger management training. Outcome measures tally improved school attendance rates, decreased disciplinary reports, improved grades and fewer referrals to Travis County justice officials. Parents, school officials, and students give the CARY program very high ratings with each annual review.
By comparison, it is evident that pursuit of a plan that engages non-adjudicated, but troublesome youth in "evidence based" violence, crime and delinquency prevention interventions, that are home-based and in-school, would be far more economically and programatically effective than exorbitant spending to build and operate another juvenile facility.
Adrian Moore