THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 13, 1994 TAG: 9409130360
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Six of the seven members of a state board dealing with the punishment and prevention of juvenile crime have quit, complaining that Gov. George F. Allen's get-tough philosophies ran counter to their goals and ``collective conscience.''
The six members of the governing board of the Department of Youth and Family Services resigned en masse late last week in Richmond. A seventh member, a state employee, remained.
``His administration is `lock 'em up and throw away the key,' '' said Donald E. Brown, a former Portsmouth city official and charter member of the board. ``We believe . . . the larger percentage can be saved.''
The Department of Youth and Family Services develops programs for children in the state corrections system and oversees its detention and group homes, learning centers and court-services units. It was split in 1990 from the Department of Corrections to deal with the state's increasing number of violent and disturbed youths.
Five of the six who resigned Thursday were, like Brown, charter members appointed by then-Gov. Gerald Baliles and reappointed by former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder.
In their letter of resignation, the six members - Brown, Chairman Franklin M. Slayton, David L. Temple Jr., William E. Weddington, Penelope A. Rood and Leonard N. Smith - said they believed ``first and foremost in protecting the public from violent offenders, both youth and adult'' and in finding ways to prevent such behavior by working with young people and their families.
``Now, under your administration, this basic and essential philosophy has shifted dramatically, one that compromises the Board and Department's goals and our collective conscience.''
The letter didn't elaborate.
Brown said the resigning board members weren't happy that the governor replaced the department's director, Charles J. Kehoe, with Patricia L. West - a former Norfolk and Virginia Beach prosecutor - in May. West has said she planned to take a hard line on juvenile offenders.
Under Allen, the state also passed laws that in July lowered from 15 to 14 the age at which serious juvenile offenders can be treated as adults and allowed judges to impose specific instead of indeterminate sentences, including ordering offenders to be held in juvenile detention facilities until age 21.
``We feel it goes much deeper than that,'' Brown said of the issues surrounding juvenile crime. ``It's going to cost taxpayers in the long run.''
Brown agreed that truly violent youths should be incarcerated, but said too many others get caught up unintentionally in such acts. ``That doesn't necessarily mean that kid can't be helped,'' he said. ``Especially if you work with the family.
The governor's office didn't return phone calls Friday and Monday seeking comment.
KEYWORDS: JUVENILE CRIME STATE BOARD by CNB