Editorial: A big job for new director

Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006 | 8:17 a.m.

The new director of juvenile services for Clark County began work earlier this month and told the Las Vegas Sun that she plans to hold the position for many years while making needed changes.

Cheryln Townsend, whose title is director of Juvenile Justice Services, has a background appropriate for running this critical $40 million, 400-employee department. She holds two master's degrees and her experience includes 20 years in various justice positions in Texas and 10 years heading up the juvenile justice department in Maricopa County, Ariz., which includes Phoenix.

Townsend's experience is important, as it will fall to her to continue the reforms at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center that were begun last year after a 16-year-old mentally ill girl on suicide watch hanged herself. The girl had been left unwatched for 35 minutes while a floor supervisor attended to other duties.

While the detention center had received praise in the past, particularly for helping to find alternatives to jailing nonviolent teens, the girl's suicide -- the first at the center in 29 years -- sparked investigations that revealed many problems. Among them: Mental health services were frequently unavailable at the jail, staffing was inadequate and discipline -- including use of pepper spray and a restraint chair -- was too often used as a first response to behavior problems.

Clark County responded by approving funding for one psychologist and five specialists in child and family issues. It also stepped up staff training at the detention center and began emphasizing rewards for good behavior rather than punishment for bad behavior.

It will be Townsend's job to build on the county's initiatives. In an interview with Sun reporter Molly Ball, Townsend said she would focus on alternatives to detention as well as on improving conditions within the center for those who must be detained. She said there have to be mental health services for both the juveniles and their families. And as she has done in the past, Townsend said, she will develop programs to help offenders realize the harm they have caused, and to see their actions from the victims' perspective.

There are few jobs more important than helping juvenile offenders change their life's path. We hope that Townsend, with her education and experience, will be a good fit for that job here.