He argues for a resource-intensive program focusing on the sixteen percent of kids who become repeat offenders, starting when they commit petty offenses the system currently ignores as not important compared to the murders and armed robberies happening right now.
I'm intimately involved with the California juvenile justice system, and he's right; early intervention programs and prevention-based strategies are the only way to go. (You really wouldn't believe the number of felony juvenile cases that are plea-bargained down to a misdemeanor prior to adjudication because the courts and public defenders are too overwhelmed to really care. Or maybe you would. *g*) Unfortunately, our beloved governor sees prevention programs funded by state dollars as expendable bargaining chips in his war with various government agencies like the California Youth Authority. It's a shame, because these have been proven to be our best and most effective methods of preventing juvenile crime.
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Date: 2005-06-06 06:08 am (UTC)I'm intimately involved with the California juvenile justice system, and he's right; early intervention programs and prevention-based strategies are the only way to go. (You really wouldn't believe the number of felony juvenile cases that are plea-bargained down to a misdemeanor prior to adjudication because the courts and public defenders are too overwhelmed to really care. Or maybe you would. *g*) Unfortunately, our beloved governor sees prevention programs funded by state dollars as expendable bargaining chips in his war with various government agencies like the California Youth Authority. It's a shame, because these have been proven to be our best and most effective methods of preventing juvenile crime.