Program allows juvenile offenders to go free

Monday, Feb. 24, 2003 | 10:50 a.m.

A new program at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center has made it possible for more than 100 youth offenders to remain free under what officials call "intensive supervision," but the facility remains at or above capacity.

Since the Detention Review and Release program began in early January, youth detention officials say it has made significant strides in identifying which teenagers accused of various crimes are non-threatening -- and trustworthy -- enough to serve their time outside the facility on electronic monitoring equipment and under parental supervision and probation officer scrutiny.

Still, last week the 235-bed juvenile detention hall at 651 N. Pecos Road was 3 percent above capacity, meaning that seven youths spent a night on sleeping mats on the floors of their rooms. That number, however, is better than it was Oct. 24 -- the day it became known that the facility had been operating above capacity for several weeks -- when there were 17 more offenders than beds.

At a meeting of the Department of Juvenile Justice Services Citizen's Advisory Committee in January, it was revealed that the facility was 9 percent over the population limit.

When the board met again on Feb. 12, a potential solution to the overcrowding was offered. Detention expeditor Pam Towers, whose position was created with money from a Juvenile Accountability Block Grant, was introduced.

"She told the committee that the goal of Detention Review and Release is a 10 percent reduction in the average length of stay (for offenders)," said Adrienne Cox, assistant director of Clark County Juvenile Justice Services. "To date, 102 kids who otherwise would have been kept in the detention center have entered the intensive supervision program."

Not all of them have remained out, however. Cox said the program has had a "greater than 80 percent success rate." Officials say that is a good number for such a new program.

"It's a tough call and we try to err on the side of caution," Cox said of the review process that determines which kids are a "good risk."

The program, she says, looks at issues such as whether the district attorney has reduced charges that originally were filed in a case, making the alleged offender less of a public threat.

However, with the state facing major cutbacks in its budget, local juvenile officials fear it will create a backlog at state juvenile facilities that will continue to overburden county juvenile facilities. For example, last week 30 youths in the county detention hall were waiting for available beds in Caliente and Elko. By comparison, 42 were awaiting placement in those state corrections facilities on Oct. 24.

"We are working with other juvenile justice administrators to let the governor's office and the Legislature know there is a compelling reason (to fund juvenile services)," Cox said. "We also support the reopening of Summit View."

The privately run $14 million, 96-bed Summit View detention facility for serious male offenders in North Las Vegas closed Jan. 31 after opening in 2000. Correctional Services Corp. pulled out after a number of problems came to light, including escapes and sex between inmates and staff.

Guinn has put $6 million in the state budget to reopen and operate Summit View for the next two fiscal years. Some lawmakers say they are opposed to the state spending its limited funds for that purpose. Some support the facility reopening under private operators.

The Clark County Juvenile Detention Center has at times been under capacity in recent months. Cox said for a couple of days this month the facility was at 97 percent capacity.

Adding more beds is not an option, especially amid current financial woes. The facility expanded from 112 beds to its current 235 between 1996 and 2000. Few expected they would be filled so fast.

In 1996 voters approved a $40 million bond that expanded the detention center and increased the Spring Mountain detention youth camp from 80 to 100 beds. In 2000 the new detention center opened on the 35-acre Family and Youth Service campus on North Pecos that includes family courts and Child Haven. There is no more room for the detention center to grow at that site, officials say.

Options to reduce the number of detainees also are limited because some youths pose too much of a danger to even be considered for the Detention Review and Release program.

For example, on Oct. 24, 54 locally incarcerated youths were deemed threats to the community by probation officers based on previous records and current charges. Last week 66 youths at the facility were so designated.

However, one area where youths have qualified for the program involves gun charges -- but only under certain circumstances.

"If the police stop a car with four youths and a gun in it, we look at the profiles of each of the kids and if we find the likelihood that one or two of them had nothing to do with that gun, they can be considered" for the program, Cox said.

On Oct. 24, 32 youths were being held in the detention center on gun charges. Last week that number was 24.