This is an interesting article and especially the comments because deals with the issues of:
- Intended Consequences. Here the youths were placed in juvenile detention centers, but then released to community programs within days and were back in court shortly afterwards.
- Unintended Consequences. The article deals withe unintended consequences on the youths whose behavior is not altered, and the effect on the community where youths are not getting the education they deserve because classes are getting disrupted.
While no one is arguing that youth should be placed in least restrictive settings when possible, the reality is that not all youths should be in community settings. This story outlines what happens to the programs and schools dealing with youths that need to be in a different setting. The comments to this story shows how other children and youth are getting shortchanged.
Violent kids testing juvenile judicial system in Memphis area:
There are still more than 1,000 violent offenses each year blamed on juveniles. TN Court officials say they’re worried too many menacing minors are being returned to the community too early.
This summer, teenagers were charged with gang-raping a toddler, stabbing two girls inside a mall, scalding an infant, shooting a man during a carjacking, busting a victim’s head open during an armed robbery and assaulting a teacher.
Area youths have committed 702 violent crimes so far this year, court records show.
Five of the incidents left five victims dead, said Memphis police Lt. Mark Miller.
Juvenile Court officials say the state’s not set up to properly deal with violent young offenders.
In serious cases that don’t merit transfer to an adult court, judges often place minors in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.
Then, DCS officials decide if the minor should be sent to one of the state’s five secured youth detention centers, enrolled in a rehabilitation or specialty program, or sent to a group or foster home. If the youth is placed in a home, it puts them right back into the community.
From August 2008 to August 2009, 379 juvenile offenders from Shelby County were put in DCS custody, Scroggs said. Of those, about 34 percent committed new offenses either during custody or after being released, he said.
In another TN County DCS placed two troubled teenagers in the same foster home, it was a deadly combination.
Repeat offender Jeffrey Byrd Johnson Jr., 15, and admitted gang member James Earl Garrett Jr., 17, wanted to blow their curfews and meet some girls on New Year’s Eve. When their foster mother wouldn’t allow it, they used a gun to get the final say.
Foster mom Mary Clark, 39, and her mother-in-law, Gail Clark, 66, were fatally shot in the head.
These TN incidents are not isolated, they are happening in other states where the youths that are not ready are being placed into community settings.
D.C. Death Toll: 7 wards slain, 10 wards charged with murder
NY. Group Home Murder, Near riots, and AWOLS from improper placement