43
Juvenile summit will address merits of youth programs
A judge says that declining juvenile crime shows local youth programs work.
YOUNGSTOWN — Many major categories of juvenile crime have declined sharply in recent years in Mahoning County, and so have admissions to state-run detention centers, according to statistics being presented today in a juvenile-court summit.
The combined homicide and assault category shows a steady drop from 296 charges filed in 2004 to 195 last year.
Police filed 22 kidnapping charges against juveniles in 2004, but only nine such charges were filed last year, and none have been filed this year.
The numbers are to be presented this morning by Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court at the summit, which begins at 8 a.m. at Mahoning County High School, 3321 Hudson Ave.
Juvenile crime is down because few offenders served locally by juvenile court programs commit the crimes again, the judge said. “You’re not having the repeat crime, so our programs are working,” the judge observed.
The judge also attributed the drop in juvenile crime to the successful collaboration between her court and other local agencies that serve children and teenagers.
Other speakers at the summit will include U.S. Reps Tim Ryan and Charlie Wilson; Tom J. Stickrath, director of the Ohio Department of Youth Services; Assistant U.S. Attorney Duane Deskins; Dr. Wendy Webb, city schools superintendent; and Denise Stewart, director of the county children services board.
Sex-offense charges filed against juveniles fell from 151 in 2004 to 34 in 2007. There were 52 such charges last year, and 45 have been filed so far this year.
Arson charges against juveniles numbered 179 in 2004 and dropped steadily to 71 last year, but 69 charges have been filed so far this year.
Weapons charges peaked at 108 in 2006 and fell to 50 last year.
Commitments from Mahoning County to state detention centers, which are operated by the Ohio Department of Youth Services, dropped from 48 in 2001 to 29 last year.
Statewide admissions to DYS facilities fell from 1,933 in 2001 to 1,309 last year.
DYS commitments are down here and statewide because the juvenile courts have been more selective in recent years as to which youthful offenders they send to DYS, the judge said. “We’re doing smart justice,” she observed.
“Of the students we keep in the community, 6 percent re-offend,” the judge said. “If I send a youth to the Department of Youth Services [detention center], that youth has a 30 percent chance of re-offending,” she said.
“We’re sending the right youths to the Department of Youth Services,” Judge Dellick said, referring to those whose risk of re-offending is high. “We’re keeping the right youths in our community.”
Offenders who stay home are placed in programs such as probation, day-reporting and drug court. The fact that only 6 percent of offenders who stay home re-offend also shows the local programs are effective, the judge added.
During the summit, Stickrath will discuss a new assessment tool that will be used statewide to determine which juvenile offenders should be sent to DYS detention centers and which ones should remain home. Judge Dellick’s court was among the courts that participated in a test of that new assessment.
Factors that are considered in determining whether an offender goes to DYS include various predictors of the likelihood that the youth will re-offend. Among those predictors are the strength or lack thereof of the offender’s family structure, the level of parental educational attainment, whether his parents are employed, the youth’s academic performance and the quality of the youth’s peer role-models in his network of friends, the judge said.
“If you have employment, it decreases the likelihood that you’re going to turn to crime,” the judge said, noting the link between poverty and crime.
“Keeping the kids in the community with their families and making the family work appropriately is the best thing long term,” Judge Dellick said. “Kids should be parented by parents, not by an agency or an institution. In no way can that ever mirror home life.”
milliken@vindy.com
MAHONING COUNTY
Fast facts || Juvenile crime charges filed by police
Homicide and assault
2004 - 296
2005 - 289
2006 - 277
2007 - 271
2008 - 195
2009 - 118 to date
Kidnapping
2004 - 22
2005 - 14
2006 - 0
2007 - 4
2008 - 9
2009 - 0 to date
Sex offenses
2004 - 151
2005 - 69
2006 - 56
2007 - 34
2008 - 52
2009 - 45 to date
Arsons
2004 - 179
2005 - 172
2006 - 123
2007 - 87
2008 - 71
2009 - 69 to date
Weapons charges
2004 - 93
2005 - 103
2006 - 108
2007 - 58
2008 - 50
2009 - 37 to date
Drug charges
2004 - 198
2005 - 232
2006 - 195
2007 - 159
2008 - 228
2009 - 108 to date
Source: Mahoning County Juvenile Court