Program to help female juvenile offenders funded

Erica D. Johnson

Monday, March 8, 2004 | 11:04 a.m.

Family Court judges on Friday approved start-up funding for a pilot program that will provide temporary housing and treatment for female juvenile offenders in Clark County.

The judges approved $145,000 in fees to be allocated to the Girls Intermediate Residential and Living Support Services program (GIRLSS) during their monthly meeting at the Clark County Family Courthouse.

The Juvenile Justice Services Department will allocate an additional $26,000 in grant money to the program. Court officials hope to secure a remaining $86,000 in funding through grants and donations within the next few months.

The program was created in response to a recent rise in the number of offenses committed by girls and a shortage of bed space for female offenders in Clark County.

Within the last three years, violent crime arrests for females have grown by 28 percent and females account for more than a quarter of all juvenile arrests in Clark County, according to a study commissioned by the Department of Juvenile Justice Services.

"A lot more young women are getting into trouble," said Kirby Burgess, director of the Department of Juvenile Justice Services. "And they are committing some of the same serious offenses as boys."

Burgess and Family Court Judge William Voy, the county's juvenile court judge, are spearheading the program, which will target low-level female offenders between the ages of 12 and 17 who have unstable homes or living environments.

The program will also offer specialized treatment for juveniles with mental or substance abuse problems, young prostitutes or female offenders who are pregnant or have children.

The 90-day inpatient program offers education and mental and substance abuse counseling for female delinquents, many of whom have been abused or neglected themselves, Voy said.

"The main problem is that they have no sense of self worth," he said. "We want them to know that they can make these changes, and give them to tools with which to do it."

The program is a partnership with the court, the Department of Juvenile Justice Services, the Metropolitan Police Department and Westcare, a nonprofit agency that treats women and children.

The six-month pilot program will be housed at Westcare. It is unclear, however, whether Westcare will be affiliated with the permanent program, Voy said.

Court officials hope the permanent program, once in place, will answer Clark County's question of what to do with female juvenile delinquents.

The pilot program will begin with 16 beds, which will bring the total number of beds for female juvenile offenders in Clark County up to 28, Burgess said.

There are currently 12 beds for female juvenile offenders in Clark County outside of the county's Juvenile Detention Center compared with 42 beds for boys, Burgess said.

There are 48 beds for girls at the juvenile jail, and on any given day, those beds are all full, Burgess said.

As the number of beds for female juvenile offenders remained stagnant, the number of young girls involved in crime in Clark County continued to rise.

The shortage of bed space created a quandary when placing female juvenile delinquents who had been convicted of low-level offenses such as prostitution and theft, Voy said.

Voy was often forced to send the girls to a correctional facility in Caliente, 30 miles outside of Las Vegas, even if he thought an intermediary program closer to home would better fit the child's needs.