Find Money for Shortstop Jail Project

In the past 11 years, thousands of “pre-delinquent” youths who have had a minor brush with the law in Orange County have been sent by judges and others to Shortstop, a privately funded program. Youngsters briefly get locked up in a holding cell and are told what they can expect if they lead a life of crime. At one point, several young people--some in shackles--are brought from Juvenile Hall or the California Youth Authority to tell their contemporaries what it’s like behind bars. The two-part program gets parents involved by teaching them the signs of drug use, gang membership or other law-breaking. They also participate in homework aimed at getting families to communicate. Shortstop, like the baseball position after which it is named, is designed to intercept a potentially damaging hit.

The program has earned high praise from all involved, including law enforcement, district attorneys, public defenders, judges, parents and the youths themselves. It is run by the Orange County Bar Foundation, which is funded primarily by the Orange County Bar Assn. Last year, Shortstop received a $22,000 grant from the CYA to develop a program for Latino youths and their families who do not speak English. But it found that more was needed than simply translating materials into Spanish. It has asked the county Board of Supervisors for $40,000 in seed money to hire staff members to put the program on its feet.

The County Justice System Advisory Groups, which make recommendations to the board on how to spend $218,000 in state grant money, praised Shortstop Programa, as it is called, but couldn’t find money to pay for it. The Board of Supervisors should override this recommendation and grant the money.

If you follow the money, you can see why it’s worthwhile for government to pay for attempts to direct pre-delinquent youths away from crime. It costs about $150 to put a family through Shortshop; $35 is paid by the family and the rest by the Bar Foundation. It costs more than $30,000 to keep a youth locked up for a year--all of it paid by taxpayers. And that is not to mention the hardship on young people or their families.

Shortstop has proven itself effective and should be encouraged to expand into the county’s growing and gang-plagued Latino community. The Bar foundation is asking for a one-year grant; after that it will find its own funding. If there is any way for the Board of Supervisors to find the money without seriously harming other important programs, it should. That check to Shortstop Programa should have thank you written on it.