Pursuing Solution to ‘8% Problem’ Youths : County’s Strategy Will Focus on Habitual Offenders

The Orange County Probation Department has received deserved national attention since announcing a year ago that its study of juvenile delinquents found that 8% of the offenders had committed more than half the repeat cases in the juvenile justice system.

Since reporting the results of its seven-year study, which it called one of the largest ever attempted of juvenile delinquency in this country, the department has been mapping strategy for a pilot program expected to begin in the next few months. The goal is to identify the youngsters who are part of the “8% problem,” bombard them and their families with a variety of resources and try to steer them away from a life of crime.

Department officials have been properly cautious in predicting results of the pilot project, which will involve youngsters 15 and under in Anaheim, Fullerton and Buena Park. Probation supervisors said they cannot be certain the program will work, but they correctly added they know it will be an improvement over the current situation. Officials in communities across the country are looking at what happens here, hoping to emulate any success.

The problem of juvenile crime and its increasing violence was underscored two weeks ago with the disclosure that an 11-year-old in Chicago was being hunted for killing a 14-year-old girl, who had been hit by a bullet apparently meant for a gang member. The next day, the 11-year-old was found killed, apparently by members of his own gang.

Though seldom as violent as the Chicago killings, Orange County juvenile crime has remained enough of a problem to prompt the Probation Department’s study. After tracking more than 6,000 first-time offenders under the age of 18 from 1985 to 1987, and following up on some of them for up to six years after their first run-in with the law, the department found that 71% had only one brush with the police. Another 21% committed a second or third offense. But 8% chalked up anywhere from three to 14 more crimes or violation of probation in the next three years.

Those most likely to fall into the 8% bracket had problems at school and at home, abused alcohol or drugs and were gang members or chronic thieves or runaways.

The Probation Department’s pilot project has involved a task force from various agencies to share information and resources. Schools and social service agencies can play key roles in identifying juveniles needing help. Teachers know who is missing class. Social workers know when things are bad at home. Health care workers can spot signs of abuse. Sharing that kind of information can help identify the youths most at risk.

The pilot project concentrates on involving the whole family. Plans call for in-home counseling and parental aides, plus day care and public health services and individual tutors where needed. That is a smart approach. Children brought up in a home with two loving parents financially able to provide a good education and opportunities for family fun outside the house obviously have a head start on staying out of trouble. But a look at today’s society shows how few families meet that ideal. If cities and counties can help out, they should.

Probation Department head Michael Schumacher said about 1,000 youths are referred to the department each month. During six years of the study, the 8% identified as chronic offenders averaged nearly 20 months behind bars, at a cost of $44,000 apiece. The county taxpayers would be better off spending that money elsewhere; the chronic offenders would be better off reversing course and leading productive lives.