ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 15, 1995 TAG: 9512150042
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-18 EDITION: METRO
VIRGINIA isn't the only state where lawmakers are considering an overhaul of the juvenile-justice system. Nor are local governments around the country sitting back, waiting for an explosion of juvenile crime. Many are experimenting with new approaches; some report good results. A sampling:
In a number of communities - Wichita, Kansas, for one - police officers serve as volunteers in Big Brothers. Kids who have been paired with officers have attested that this helped rescue them from street crime's hoods.
Police in Dallas recorded a 26 percent drop in juvenile arrests after a gang-intervention program was launched with the help of 17 civic organizations. The program focused on reaching gang members with education, recreation and job-training opportunities.
In Fort Myers, Fla., the juvenile-crime rate decreased by 27 percent after the start-up of STARS, an effort that tapped community talent to provide music and dance lessons, sports and tutoring to at-risk youth.
(Incidentally, the percentage of Fort Myers' school kids making C's or better increased significantly. Also, STARS cost about $158 per child, compared to an estimated $15,000 to send a teen to boot camp for a year.)
While these programs fall into the prevention category, local governments in Vermont are also experimenting on the punishment side, with a concept called ``reparative probation.'' This bears a close resemblance to community-service sentencing of miscreant juveniles in Roanoke and elsewhere - except that panels of citizens, instead of judges and probation officers, impose the penalties and provide supervision.
Notice: The common denominator of these programs is that they directly involve local organizations and citizens and communities. They are entrepreneurial, flexible. None offers a panacea for juvenile crime. But policymakers are increasingly recognizing that a government fix won't, either.
Changes in the juvenile-justice system may help; so may boot camps, conflict-resolution classes in schools, and so forth. But says Linda Dahlberg, with the Division of Violence Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: ``I think what we see now is something that requires more of a collective response ... . You have to get the support of all the environments these kids move through.''
LENGTH: Short : 50 linesby CNB