This past weekend a friend of mine was cleaning out her garage and came across an article written by J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, from the January 1955 edition of The American Magazine. “You Can Help Stop Juvenile Crime” urged readers to help stop the juvenile crime wave by returning to family values and religion. He reported that one out of 18 youth between the ages of 15 and 17 were delinquent and if the trend continued there would be a huge population of delinquents in the 1960s. I guess we all know what happened to those youth from the 60s! I found the article interesting because the examples he gave of the delinquents were kids who were 13, 10 and even 9-years-old – very young kids. He blamed the crime wave on the media for “debunking moral codes and standards of adult conduct.”
Yesterday I met with leaders from the Santa Clara County Social Services Agency and the Probation Department to discuss where very young offenders (under age 13) could be sent when home wasn’t an option and Juvenile Hall wasn’t appropriate. The meeting was in response to a San Jose Mercury News article that uncovered that a 10 year old was put in juvenile hall with his 11 and 12 year old siblings in February 2009 for 4 days for allegedly molesting a younger sibling. The charges were later dropped but members of the County Board of Supervisors requested an alternative be put in place to prevent very young children being jailed with older offenders. Bill Wilson Center works with young offenders and youth out of control (status offenders) so I volunteered to accept young offenders into our shelter and temporary foster homes. Our goal is to reunite kids with their families and to provided needed services to prevent future delinquency.
Although juvenile crime rates are down substantially from the mid 90s there is much discussion lately that kids are committing more serious crimes at a younger age. The Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention tracks the numbers of crimes and has studied this issue. The crimes younger kids are committing follows the same crimes older kids are involved with so there is no unusual trend. In fact, juvenile crime for all ages have decreased since 1995.
Bill Wilson Center’s philosophy is to treat kids in the least restrictive setting. Our foster homes and shelter provide services in a home-like setting where kids get the family, individual and group counseling they need to make the successful transition back home. Most kids do not need to be locked up in Juvenile Hall and would be better served in community programs that will involve the family and provide treatment. Placing 10-year-old kids who commit crimes they don’t fully understand in an institution designed for holding youth who are a danger to society can only make matters worse. 92% of the youth graduating from our residential program do not commit new offenses. We will continue to speak out for the kids who don’t have anywhere to turn to for help.
May 30, 2009 -
Posted by
sparkyharlan |
Nonprofit CEO, Social Services, Youth Services, juvenile probation, nonprofit, teenager |
Bill Wilson Center, connecting teens to caring adults, female juvenile offenders, foster care, Incarcerating young children, J. Edgar Hoover, juvenile crime in 1955, juvenile justice, juvenile offenders, least restrictive setting, locking up kids, OJJDP, youth advocate |
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