Juvenile-Detention Camps Worth Saving : County Needs to Fight for Money for Worthy Programs in Probation Department

For years, the Orange County Probation Department managed to fight off threatened budget cuts. The department’s chief, Michael Schumacher, was able to demonstrate to county supervisors that he had programs that worked. Schumacher could also demonstrate that when it came to juvenile crime, in many cases it was cheaper to “jail” youths in mountain cabins and teach them skills than to ship them off to the California Youth Authority.

It was the cost argument that usually won the day. Few cared about young criminals, aside from their families, even when their offenses were nonviolent.

This year, Schumacher’s department has been hit by the county’s bankruptcy and faces another major challenge in the form of federal budget cuts. If all the threatened withdrawals of cash go through, Orange County’s representatives in Washington and Sacramento should turn over stones to look for every available dollar to keep good programs operating.

Because of the bankruptcy, the Probation Department’s budget was cut from $68 million to less than $59 million. Now the federal government is threatening to cut another $10 million or so, though some of that could be restored.

Schumacher said the federal cuts could force him to shut the department’s three juvenile-detention camps. The camps give teenagers in trouble--and at risk for getting in worse trouble--a few weeks or months away from their environments, with minimal security, to receive counseling, substance-abuse treatment and other help to get back on the right side of the law.

From its decades of working with youth, the department was able to learn that only a minority were likely to become hard-core criminals. It rightly undertook a seven-year study of juvenile delinquency that was one of the largest in the country.

By tracking the criminal activities of 6,500 youthful offenders, the department found that a mere 8% committed about 55% of the repeat offenses. In the past few years, the department has been working to develop programs to identify those likely to wind up part of the future 8% and learn how to stop them.

With youth crime a major, valid public concern, Orange County needs to fight for funding for programs to combat juvenile delinquency. The taxpayer foots the bill for youth camps, and also for the more expensive jail stays. It’s cheaper to prevent the crime and keep worthy programs going.