Photo from http://www.caddo.org/index.aspx?NID=290.
Recently, I found hope in an unlikely place – juvenile detention.
Clay Walker worked for 10 years as a juvenile defense attorney before becoming the director of the Caddo Parish Juvenile Detention Center – located at the Caddo Parish Clerk’s office on 1835 Spring Street – three years ago. In recent years, the number of youth housed at the center has reduced significantly. Here’s a look at what they’re doing:
Community
By coordinating with over 140 community programs and tracking data on the outcomes of these placements, juvenile service staff found youth are better able to address specific needs through appropriate placement into alternative programs.
While Walker and his staff advocate daily for alternative solutions to detention, youth who are deemed a risk to public safety are admitted to the center, either to await trial or serve a sentence as the result of a parole violation. During this time (average of 15 days), youth attend the alternative school and receive tutoring and mental health services, including medication administration for 60-65 percent of youth with mental illnesses.
Education
Throughout the tour, I noticed a strong emphasis on education and literacy. Upon admission, each child’s education records, including Individualized Education Programs, are transferred to the school. Staff also re-administer the Wide Range Achievement Test, which assesses literacy and math skills. Juvenile services staff strive to ensure that every youth admitted to the facility unable to read is literate by the time they are released. The center’s tutor has an impressive success rate in teaching youth to read. After saving public funds for three years, staff are now preparing to convert an existing courtyard into a library and have hopes to build a classroom in the future.
Currently, the gymnasium and computer lab are used to conduct lessons. While these spaces provide adequate room for students, Walker and his staff hope to provide a learning space free from disruptions and reminiscent of a Caddo Parish classroom. They feel this measure will enable their three school teachers to promote successful school behavior – the opposite being a rising problem in the Caddo Parish community, according to data collected by Caddo Juvenile Services.
Rising Trend
While juvenile arrests related to school behavior have risen since the implementation of Zero Tolerance in 1996, Caddo schools respond to problematic school behavior the same now as they did 20 years ago – suspensions and arrests. Arrests and prosecutions do not serve the socio-cognitive needs of children, but rather punish impulsive behavior six months later. Meanwhile, suspension is an archaic response that does not address the problem, but instead ignores or rewards the behavior. According to Walker, for a significant population of youths, suspension equates to three days at home unsupervised.
Alternatives
Perhaps involvement in community youth programs would be more appropriate and effective solutions. For example, in School Fight Diversion, youths receive immediate therapeutic anger management and resolve conflicts with the person he or she fought.
Respect
In addition to the high recommendation of youths to alternative programs and emphasis on education, I was also pleased to find the interactions between staff and detained youths to be respectful and supportive. Juvenile services staff have taken several measures to promote this atmosphere of mutual respect, with the understanding that one of the most common factors among disadvantaged youth, especially among those with high recidivism, is the absence of a caring adult.
Role Models
Punishment works for some, but others, especially the one fifth of youths who have repeat offenses, require further guidance, models of respect, conflict resolution skills, and positive feedback in order to develop more positive behaviors. The Pod Leaders (who are responsible for the direct care of the youth) embody this principle daily, using real-time conflict scenarios as discussion topics among youths in their care.
By focusing efforts on rehabilitating disadvantaged youth rather than condemning them to repetitive cycles of delinquent behavior and incarceration, Caddo Parish Juvenile Detention Center is taking great strides towards affording valuable opportunities to our youth and inspiring hope among our most at-risk populations.