Sun, Jul 05, 2009
 Program coordinator Marcos Flores holds a punching bag for a student in the Prevention Academic Technology Program at the Tucson Urban League. The program helps at-risk teens learn skills and stay out of juvenile detention. Flores uses boxing as a way to teach participants about strategy, discipline and how to get along with others. Greg Bryan / arizona daily star
Sierra Tucson Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Trades/Construction RANCHO RESORT MAINTANANCE POSITION Health Care Dependable Health Services Physical Therapists Health Care CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Sales and Marketing Everready Glass Sales Reps Finance and Accounting Charles E. Gillman Company Accounting Specialist Administrative & Professional Jorgensen Brooks Group Counselor Tucson RegionJuvenile arrests in Pima fell in last decadeArizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.04.2007
Back in May 1997, a lot of Tucson children accused of crimes were sleeping on mats in the cafeteria at the Pima County Juvenile Detention Center because the place was so crowded.
At the same time, criminologist John Dilulio and other experts were warning citizens and police alike to get ready for a national wave of unprecedented crime that would be carried out by "super-predators" — violent teenagers with no conscience who lived for the moment and would commit crimes for the pleasure of it.
On May 20, 1997, county voters overwhelmingly approved $42 million in bonds that paid for six new courtrooms and built a juvenile detention center that more than tripled the number of available beds.
In February 2000, the new detention center opened with 306 beds.
Last week, 120 teenagers were being held in the detention center.
Not only did the super-predators never materialize, but the number of youths being arrested in Pima County fell dramatically — mirroring national statistics.
The U.S. Justice Department reported last year that the number of juveniles arrested has fallen to levels not seen since the 1970s.
According to the Pima County Attorney's Office, the number of children arrested for violent or property crimes fell 43 percent between 1997 and 2006. At the same time, the number of children between ages 8 and 17 living in Pima County rose 26 percent.
The number of juvenile arrests per 100,000 residents fell 55 percent during that 10-year time frame.
In only one area did juvenile arrests increase locally between 1997 and 2006. Total drug arrests increased by 2 percent, most of them for selling or manufacturing drugs.
However, the number of drug arrests per 100,000 residents fell 19 percent.
No one can say for sure why the crime rate among children has fallen in recent years, but community policing, anti-gang efforts and a better economy may all have played a part, said Presiding Judge Patricia Escher of Juvenile Court.
There has also been more of a collaborative effort by the courts and law enforcement, behavioral-health agencies, schools, Child Protective Services and children's advocacy groups such as the Tucson Urban League and the Anne E. Casey Foundation, Escher said.
"Our first concern is always going to be public safety," the judge said, "but the reason we have a juvenile court is because society believes that youths who commit crimes are not just young criminals but minors, and they can and should be rehabilitated to the extent they can be."
The collaborative effort began in earnest in 2004 when Juvenile Court officials realized that while the number of children committing violent crimes was decreasing, the number of children — especially minority children — being detained had increased dramatically.
An executive committee of community stakeholders, judges, prosecutors, public defenders and law enforcement officials met to brainstorm ways to keep all but "high-risk" teens out of the detention center.
"Detention should only be used for two reasons," said Rik Schmidt, director of Juvenile Court services. "It should only be used if the child is a high risk to public safety and if there's a reason to believe they won't appear in court."
Leah Hamilton, supervisor of the county public defender's juvenile unit, said many studies prove that the biggest predictor of future criminal activity is past incarceration. Not only does the child's perception of self suffer, but he or she is also perceived differently by the system from that point on.
"If you can keep kids from coming in the door, that's critical," Hamilton said. "Once they've been in detention, they've got that foot in a sinkhole."
Several new programs have been and continue to be created as a result of the collaborative effort, Schmidt said.
In addition, a more objective risk-assessment tool has been developed for probation officers who must decide which newly arrested children should be detained pending their initial court appearance, said Brenda Flynn, probation division director.
Since the Disproportionate Minority Contact/Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative began, the number of detained children has fallen from a high of 173 per day in 2004 to a daily average of about 120, Schmidt said.
Unfortunately, he said, the percentage of minority children in detention has remained constant, but the county remains committed to working on the issue, which is common throughout the nation.
One of the new programs started as part of the initiative is the Prevention Academic Technology Program.
When a child on intensive probation continues to make bad decisions but stops short of committing a new crime, a judge can choose to send the child to the PAT Program.
Participants are provided rides to the Tucson Urban League five days a week so they can attend four hours of classes, said Alvin Boudy, juvenile intensive-probation supervisor.
The 30-day program, designed by the Urban League, provides tutoring, job-skills training and recreational opportunities to youths who might otherwise be placed in the detention center, Boudy said.
Youths must achieve a certain number of points before they can graduate from the program, with points being awarded for such things as academic progress and getting along with others.
If a child does exceptionally well, Boudy said, the probation officer can ask a judge to place the child on a less intensive form of probation.
A similar program for kids on regular probation is also in the works, Flynn said.
The Community Support Program will be held at select Sunnyside School District schools, and a variety of community providers will oversee the tutoring, job-skills training and the rest, Flynn said.
The county also recently agreed that children involved in less-serious domestic-violence incidents can be diverted from the detention center to an Open Inn facility. Open Inn is an agency that serves at-risk youths.
Probation officers stationed at the Domestic Violence Alternative Center will work with the Open Inn staff and behavioral-health experts to see what the family needs in terms of crisis intervention, conflict resolution and, occasionally, housing for the child.
Since the program began Aug. 1, more than a dozen teenagers have received services through the center, Flynn said.
Schmidt said the county is using the empty space at the detention center to its advantage. One housing area has been turned into a top-notch medical unit, and another is home to the Make a Change program.
That pilot program, which began Aug. 1, prepares teenagers for substance-abuse counseling, said Paula Burns, lead probation officer.
Too many times, teenagers who are released from the detention center end up right back inside because of drug use, Burns said.
The Make a Change program provides counseling to teenagers and their families before they get out, in hopes they will better be able to handle the stress of being back on the streets, Burns said.
Right now the program is limited to boys ages 15 to 17, she said, but the program may be expanded if it proves successful.
"I don't think it was a mistake to build this building," Schmidt said. "It's a state-of-the-art building that should be an appropriate place for years for kids to be detained."
In recent years, communities have come to realize that "many kids have high needs, but not all are high risk," Schmidt said.
Although pleased with the strides made in recent years, Judge Escher said there is room for improvement. There will always be a need for more programs, more treatment facilities, more housing options and more personnel, she said.
Someday it would be wonderful to see neighborhood-based resource centers built so families could go for parenting classes, substance-abuse counseling, vocational education and recreational opportunities, Escher said.
"Countrywide there has been a much greater emphasis lately on working with kids in their communities," Escher said. "Kids can't succeed if they can't get to where the help is."
On StarNet: Read more crime and safety coverage in StarNet's blog, "Police Beat" at azstarnet.com/crime.
● Reporter Kim Smith: 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com.
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