Juvenile recidivism down 25 percent

BOISE – More than one-third of juveniles commit new crimes within two years of being released by the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, according to a new report from the agency.

That’s a 25 percent improvement compared with 2002, the report says, when more than half of all juvenile offenders committed new crimes.

The improvement has come as counties, buoyed by increases in funding from sources such as the state tobacco tax and block grants, were able to add more programs for troubled teens, department research analyst Monty Prow said Friday.

“In the past, they would just land back at the probation officer’s desk when we released them,” Prow said. “Now they have more effective programs.”

Besides high school completion programs, youth courts and vocational training, many counties now offer more specialized “aftercare” programs to help youths ease back into society, Prow said.

Nez Perce County teens are given little chance to re-offend, under the region’s “Aftercare Committee” program, said John Triplett, director of Nez Perce County Court Services.

“We’re taking away the opportunity for them to fail,” Triplett said. “I think we’ve only recommitted five kids to the state in the last 10 years, and we’ve had probably 15 to 20 kids in custody at any one time since 1995.”

The program brings the teen and the teen’s parents together with representatives from several agencies, including the health and welfare department, corrections department, local law enforcement and the school district, during monthly meetings, Triplett said.

That way, when the teen’s probation officer asks the teen if he’s found a job yet, the vocational rehabilitation director is ready with applications or a report on the teen’s progress, he said.

“We’re trying to take away their arguments about why they didn’t do something. The group acts as a support group for them,” Triplett said.

Programs like Nez Perce County’s have also helped decrease the number of kids in juvenile custody overall, Prow said, dropping from a high average of more than 500 kids in custody a few years ago to an average of about 415 kids in custody last year.

Roughly 20 percent of Idaho juveniles re-offend within one year of leaving state custody, according to the report. That’s nearly 7 percent lower than Oklahoma’s recidivism rate, and 20 percent lower than both Washington’s and Kentucky’s, according to the report. Those states have juvenile justice systems similar to Idaho’s, Prow said.

“This research indicates that Idaho is among the leaders in the nation within juvenile corrections,” IDJC Director Brent Reinke said in a prepared statement. “Our partnerships with the courts and county juvenile probation departments throughout the state make these outcomes possible.”

Still, more juveniles who do re-offend are being sent to prison, the report says.

In 2002, the department found a recommitment rate of about 9.4 percent. Last year, that rate had climbed to 12.5 percent.

“Counties are doing a more improved job than they had been keeping kids locally, so we’re seeing the more severe kids – the ones who have severe problems with drugs and alcohol, et cetera,” Prow said.

Though only 4.6 percent of juveniles are committed to state custody for the first time for drug or alcohol offenses, more than 14 percent of recommitments are for drug or alcohol offenses, according to the report.