Prevention Is the Answer

The county Board of Supervisors recently told Probation Department officials that they would have to compete with other county programs for the fewer dollars available in the new budget. Money is always scarce, but the county must not be penny-wise and pound-foolish in its zeal to be fiscally prudent.

Although most attention has focused on County Jail overcrowding, juvenile lockup facilities also face a similar problem. On most days Juvenile Hall and the county’s two youth camps are near capacity; on some days they exceed it. More beds are needed now.

And the problem can only get worse. As the county’s population grows and crime increases, more and more beds will be needed--unless ways are found to keep young people out of the juvenile justice system in the first place.

That’s the message that Michael A. Schumacher, the county’s chief probation officer, has been trying to convey, and it makes sense. Providing more beds, without bolstering diversion programs, will overload the juvenile system and add to crowding in the adult system as young repeat offenders become too old for Juvenile Hall.

Day schools, improved drug-abuse treatment, special anti-gang programs and assistance for emotionally disturbed youngsters help divert young offenders before they become a part of the juvenile justice system.

To resolve short-term needs, Probation Department officials have asked the county’s new jail consultant to inspect Juvenile Hall and recommend solutions. That could help the immediate problem. But prevention and diversion are the long-range solutions, and such programs should get top priority.

Not all of these efforts cost money, as Superior Court Judge David O. Carter has demonstrated in his courtroom. Judge Carter gives some young offenders a choice of going to Juvenile Hall or regular attendance at school and improvement in grades.

The option is usually reserved for first offenders involved in less serious crimes, and it has a catch: If the youth skips school, the time at Juvenile Hall is doubled. In most of the cases, so far, the approach is working.

Large lockup facilities for juveniles signal failure of the judicial system and encourage a warehouse approach to juvenile justice. More buildings and beds are not the best answer. Prevention is.