KIDS IN JAIL

The shortcomings of the region’s juvenile court systems leave New England unprepared to adequately serve a growing number of teenagers in its correctional system, according to a new report, which makes many reasonable recommendations for change. But like Maine, the other New England states barely have the funding to do the jobs they are doing now, never mind expanding. To make a case to the public that more money is warranted during difficult budget times, more persuasive evidence may be found by following defendants, a year and five or 10 years after their day in court.

The New England Juvenile Defender Center concluded last week that caseloads are too high, judicial training too sparse and regard for the judges in the system too low. The courts in Maine have been underfunded for so long that pointing out no money exists for hiring more judges or increasing training is barely worth mentioning yet again. The public does not want to put more money into the system because its problems are largely out of sight and there are few demands to fix what cannot be seen.

This report is unlikely to change that view, though it makes many accurate and important observations and calls for such changes as making judicial evaluations more easily available to the public, more often sending judges to visit the facilities to which they commit youth and increasing judicial training in child development.

Would better-trained judges with lighter caseloads allow states to ensure more of their troubled kids got proper treatment, leading to a safer environment and less costly correctional system? Perhaps. But the public would likely look more sympathetically at the lack of funding for the court system if this could be more specifically demonstrated. The center’s report is not necessarily for the public. It is titled “Troubled Kids, Troubled Courts: A Call to New England’s Juvenile Court Judges and State Policymakers,” but policy-makers follow at least as often as they lead. The people who determine the state budget want to know first that the citizens of a state agree with them.

Nationally, according to the report, juvenile courts see more than 2 million filings annually, a number that has increased 68 percent since 1984. This increase has come even as the number of violent crimes committed by juveniles has dropped dramatically. Every state has to balance being tough on crime and being smart on crime and recognize if it is going to bring many more juvenile cases to court, the cost of detaining and rehabilitating these teens is equally its responsibility and in its interest.

Maine doesn’t have a separate juvenile court so district court judges have the challenge of handling both juvenile and adult cases, which often have very different priorities. Maine District Court Deputy Chief Judge Robert Mullen was quoted in a recent news story agreeing with the basics of the report but neatly summarizing why calls for more training cannot solve the problem alone. “It is difficult in my court to feel like I am doing my very best for the people involved, which includes both the juvenile and his family, when my options are usually limited to probation or Mountainview or Longcreek,” Maine’s youth correctional facilities.

Self-interest is an effective motivator. Expanding Judge Mullen’s choices means educating the public about how different choices could be better for everyone.