The South Dakota Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Initiative Work Group submitted to state leaders a comprehensive set of data-driven policy recommendations for the upcoming legislative session that will increase public safety, effectively hold juvenile offenders accountable and reduce juvenile justice costs.

The proposed recommendations were distributed in a press release from the Governor's office.  Hopefully the proposed changes would accomplish the above goals by:

  • Focusing expensive residential placements on youth who are a risk to public safety,
  • Preventing deeper involvement in the juvenile justice system for youth committing lower level offenses,
  • Improving outcomes by expanding access to evidence-based community interventions, and
  • Ensuring the quality and sustainability of reforms.

The policy recommendations released resulted from six months of work by the work group, which analyzed juvenile arrest, disposition, probation and corrections data, and reviewed research on effective practices in juvenile justice. The work group examined how to best reduce delinquency and recidivism with effective community-based practices and residential treatment.

Circuit Judge Larry Long who was a part of the task force highlighted the expansion of the Diversion program as one of the upgrades he would like to see. He joined Rick Knobe on KSOO's Viewpoint University to explain.

 

Established by Gov. Dennis Daugaard and Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson, the JJRI Work Group examination of the state’s juvenile justice system follows a successful reform effort two years ago in the criminal justice system.

The latest available national figures show the state had the second highest juvenile commitment rate in the country in 2011. Research shows that for many youth residential placement generally fails to produce better outcomes than alternative sanctions. It also costs much more, and can actually increase re-offending in certain circumstances.

In fiscal year 2014, residential placement cost South Dakota taxpayers between $41,000 and $144,000 per youth per year. While recidivism rates have improved, more than four in 10 youth return to the Department of Corrections (DOC) within three years of release.

Key findings of the JJRI Work Group include:

  • Fewer youth are being admitted to probation and DOC, but the length of time youth spend out of home, committed or on probation has increased over the past 10 years.
  • Nearly 75 percent of commitments to DOC are for misdemeanors, Children In Need Of Supervision (CHINS) violations, and probation violations.
  • Low-risk probation admissions increased from 49 percent in 2004 to 62 percent in 2013.
  • Evidence-based interventions for juvenile offenders are not sufficiently available in the community.
  • Pre-court diversion is used inconsistently across the state.

“We charged the work group with studying the juvenile justice system to see if there were opportunities for better outcomes for our youth and our communities,” said Chief Justice David Gilbertson. “I appreciate the work group’s time and effort on this important matter and look forward to future discussions on these recommendations. The goal is to have fewer youth coming into our court system while at the same time providing more resources for our court services officers to hold juvenile probationers accountable and address their behaviors in the community, rather than expensive residential facilities. Any proposal under serious consideration will also give top priority to community safety.”

“In 2012 and 2013, we used state data and national research to increase public safety through the passage of comprehensive criminal justice reform,” said Speaker Brian Gosch. “Over the past six months, we applied a similar approach to juvenile justice. The recommendations in the report provide the Legislature with a guide for achieving better outcomes for our state’s youth and for becoming national leaders in juvenile justice.”

“The policies put forth by the work group will change our juvenile justice system for the better,” said Department of Corrections Secretary Denny Kaemingk. “If we do this well, we will not only have fewer youth in our juvenile system, but fewer will come into our adult corrections system too.”

The work group’s report can be viewed at jjri.sd.gov under the “Workgroup Report” tab.

The JJRI Work Group received technical assistance from the Public Safety Performance Project of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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