Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana

Summer 2003

Juvenile Justice Reforms Long Overdue

Louisiana's juvenile justice system is broken and broad reform is essential. That was the general consensus of the Joint Legislative Juvenile Justice Coalition (JJC), which reported its findings in March to the Legislature. PAR President Jim Brandt served on the JJC Advisory Board, which was created in 2001.

The major findings of the JJC's two-year study informed a list of recommendations to reduce overall juvenile incarceration rates and to ensure that incarceration is equitably applied to juvenile offenders.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation was contracted by the JJC to research sentencing and release decisions and found that Louisiana uses juvenile incarceration excessively and unfairly. The vast majority of incarcerated juvenile offenders (77%) in the state are imprisoned for non-violent offenses, with simple burglary the most common offense and simple assault (no injury) the second most common offense.

Black youth receive longer sentences than white youth for the same offenses, regardless of their prior offense histories. For example, white youth with weapons offenses received sentences averaging 18 months compared to black youth with sentences averaging 26 months.

Sentence lengths for the same offenses vary widely from parish to parish. For example, the average length of disposition for simple burglary ranged from 17.6 to 66.2 months by parish and from 15.7 to 79.3 months by judge. Controlling for a history of prior offenses did not change this wide discrepancy.

Additionally, the Casey Foundation found that Louisiana judges have too few sentencing options with the bulk of those options devoted to secure custody. Decisions to release juveniles from secure custody are slow, inconsistent and often arbitrary with a focus on physical control of offenders rather than accurate assessment of public safety and treatment needs.

Secure custody costs about $157/day per youth and is the most expensive approach to addressing delinquent behavior. Alternatives include residential treatment at a cost of about $85/day, intensive day treatment at a cost of about $60/day and intensive supervision at a cost of about $15/day. However, alternative custody options in Louisiana are scarce and poorly match the types of offenses being committed by juvenile offenders. Figure 1 shows the inverse relationship of Louisiana's juvenile offenses and its custody options.

Based on these findings, the JJC calls for a more balanced approach to juvenile justice, which provides a wider range of sentencing options with community-based rehabilitation replacing the bulk of centralized punitive incarcerations. The recommendations call for the closure of a juvenile correctional facility (likely, the boys juvenile facility in Tallulah) to accomplish this shift in priorities. Further, the JJC recommends that a continuum of care be developed in the areas of mental health, substance abuse, family strengthening, foster care and school discipline.

The JJC calls for a decentralization of treatment locations, but a centralization of the bureaucracy charged with providing services to children, youth and families.

Bills introduced this session to implement the JJC reform recommendations include:

The Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2003 (HB 1683, SB 957 and SB 960): Three identical bills propose a comprehensive plan for reform. The proposal would implement some reforms immediately and begin planning for others.

The proposal calls for standards and licensing procedures for juvenile detention facilities, interagency agreements for sharing information on juvenile offenders and the development of a plan to create a new executive Department of Children, Youth and Families in 2004. The Act would limit the conditions under which a child can waive counsel and allow probation, parole and placement flexibility for juvenile offenders of violent crimes.

The proposal also calls for several prevention/intervention measures including the development of a master plan for improving behavior and discipline within schools. The role of the Children's Cabinet would be expanded to help centralize the state's continuum of services for children.

Closure of Tallulah (SB 963): This bill would close the Tallulah juvenile facility by January 2004. Further, it would require the juveniles currently detained there to be placed in other secure care facilities, in their homes with appropriate support services or in community-based programs.

Two other bills introduced this session, which are not recommendations of the JJC, are also aimed at juvenile justice reform:

Transfer of the Office of Youth Development (HB 1663 and SB 991): These similar bills would move the Office of Youth Development from the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C) to the Department of Social Services. The House bill would require a plan by July 2004 and implementation by July 2005. The Senate bill would require the transition by January 2004.

Juvenile Risk Review Panel (SB 796): This bill would create one or two Juvenile Risk Review Panel(s) to evaluate the appropriate placement for each non-violent, non-felonious juvenile offender.

Interested parties agree that reform is necessary and long overdue. Incarceration is overused, ineffective and costly, and juvenile justice is being applied by a fragmented system. The establishment of community-based custody alternatives and a continuum of rehabilitative care are common goals behind all of the proposed legislation. However, the various timelines for implementation represent opposing viewpoints. DPS&C officials and district attorneys warn against implementing reforms so quickly that public safety is endangered by giving offenders too much freedom or wasting money on unnecessary bureaucracy. The JJC and the Casey Foundation argue that the reform act would do neither.

The proposed Reform Act offers an appropriate and deliberate postponement of implementation to allow for data to be gathered, plans to be developed, alternatives to be examined and costs to be projected, but this delay should not be used as an excuse for inaction. The JJC poured a lot of time and effort into developing its fundamental recommendations. It is time to begin the reform process.