Official Proposes Deep Cuts for Juvenile Programs
Mental health services and drug treatment programs for juvenile delinquents would be slashed if the county cuts $3.7 million from the Health Care Agency’s budget, according to a memo from agency Director Pierre Durand.
In a memo to Chief Administrator Harry Hufford, Durand proposed eliminating 27 full-time positions that provide mental health and substance abuse treatment in the county’s probation department, including Juvenile Hall and the Juvenile Restitution Project.
The cuts would eliminate treatment for 602 youths but save Durand’s agency about $1.7 million, according to his calculations. That is less than half of the money Hufford has told Durand he must cut from his proposed budget in the coming fiscal year.
“If the probation department cannot fund this program, the adverse effects . . . will include increased recidivism, truancy, escalating severity of criminal acts” and increased psychiatric hospitalization, Durand’s analysis warned.
Durand could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
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