Date Published: April 22, 2008

A bill that would give judges the authority to overrule state guidelines and lock teens in state-run detention centers for a wider variety of offenses is sailing through the legislature, despite the concern of critics who warn that taxpayers will have to pick up the tab.

The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Sandra Adams, R-Oviedo, passed the full House unanimously, and a companion bill is moving through committees in the Senate. It applies to teens who are living at home while waiting to be sentenced for a crime, then violate a juvenile court judge's orders by breaking curfew, skipping school or acting disrespectful in court.

Under current law, judges cannot put teens in detention unless they score enough points on a standard state assessment meant to evaluate whether they are a repeat offender, threat to the public safety or a flight risk.

But the bill would give juvenile court judges the power to punish bad behavior by locking teens who aren't considered a safety risk in a juvenile detention cell. The youths could be held for up to five days for the first offense and 15 more days for a repeat violation.

The Children's Campaign Inc., an organization that lobbies the legislature on children's issues, has fought the bill, saying it would allow teens to be detained for almost any reason. And some juvenile court judges have concerns about the proposed law.

The bill "is just begging to be abused," Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Ronald Alvarez said, adding that it would do away with an objective standard meant to judge whether kids are a threat. The proposal seems "purely punitive," he said.

Children's Campaign President Roy Miller said the proposal goes against the recommendations of the Blueprint Commission, a statewide task force on juvenile justice reform headed by Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan.

The commission's report, released earlier this year, said Florida is wasting millions of dollars by detaining far more children than other states, including teens who have acted out or violated probation but have never committed a violent crime.

Adams said she has addressed some of those concerns by amending her bill to exclude first-time offenders who have committed only a misdemeanor. A companion version of the bill in the Senate will also include that amendment, she said.

Adams said she introduced the bill in response to frustration from juvenile court judges who said they needed sanctions for kids who repeatedly disobeyed their orders.

"We've taught our children that we are lying when we say, 'You should not do this,' and yet when you do, there are no consequences,'" Adams said.

But Miller said the bill is still sure to increase the number of children kept in detention while awaiting sentencing to a residential program.

Seven detention centers, including the Palm Beach Regional Juvenile Detention Center on 45th Street in West Palm Beach, exceeded capacity on more than 180 days in the past year.

The state charges counties $176.70 per teen per day for juvenile detention. The Department of Juvenile Justice estimates that the bill could increase detention costs to the counties between $385,405 and $1.1 million statewide.

The Children's Campaign calls that figure "ridiculously low," and puts the cost at between $1.6 million and $4.8 million.

The Florida Association of Counties made defeat of the bill one of its top three priorities this session, spokeswoman Cragin Mosteller said. The law allows teens to go back into the system for "almost any violation whatsoever," Mosteller said, and a particularly zealous judge could create a "huge influx of juveniles."

The Department of Juvenile Justice, which has not taken a position on Adams' bill, is meeting with the Annie E. Casey Foundation on May 1 to discuss a pilot project that would divert children who meet the legal criteria for detention but are not a public safety threat.

It makes no sense, Miller said, for the state to talk about reducing detention of kids who aren't a threat while simultaneously passing bills that allows judges to detain more teens.

"Let's say a girl runs away after she has been told not to run away," Miller said. "But the court is unaware that the girl is running away because she is being abused at home or in a foster care placement."

Under this bill, "the girl gets placed in detention," Miller said.

Judge Peter Blanc said that while he does not feel as strongly as Alvarez, he shares some of his concerns.

There is value in giving judges the discretion to punish kids who repeatedly disobey their orders, Blanc said. But sending kids to detention without effectively addressing the reasons they are acting out is "like putting a bucket under a leaky water pipe," he said.

"You can't stop the leak with more buckets," Blanc said. "Eventually, you have to address the cause, and you had better do it before you waste all your resources on buckets."

Adams says she intends her proposal as a complement to a bill sponsored by Rep. Mitch Needelman, R-Melbourne, that addresses prevention programs and enacts some of the recommendations of the Blueprint Commission. Her bill includes a provision that would allow counties to spend court fees on programs meant to keep kids out of trouble.

But the meat of the bill, Adams said, is that juvenile court judges should have more authority on sanctions for kids instead of being forced to follow the recommendations of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

"A judge came to me and said she saw the same child four different times in two weeks, for what would have been felonies, however DJJ kept recommending to send this child home," Adams said. "Our state, I believe, is in need of some changes."

Kathleen Chapman
Palm Beach Post
April 22, 2008

Source: Palm Beach Post

Posted on 04-22-2008 @ 15:58