March 26, 2004
Boundary County was one of just nine counties in Idaho last year that didn’t commit any juveniles to state custody, and the success of the county’s Youth Accountability Board is being considered a pattern around the state.
That’s what Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections District 1&2 liaison Len Dickson told county officials in a meeting earlier this month.
In a private meeting with prosecutor Jack Douglas, Dickson said other counties in the state are looking to programs established in Boundary County as an example.
“I was pleased that once again the state told me that Boundary County is doing an excellent job,” Douglas said. “Mr. Dickson said they were looking for ideas from our county, because our system is effective. He said the state supports what we are doing and asked if Boundary County had ideas or suggestions for the rest of the state. I told him our success comes from a healthy combination of good parents, fine teachers and administrators, and the diligent and thoughtful cooperation between this office, the probation department and local law enforcement.”
According to Douglas, Dickson’s visit was the second in a year, and during both the Youth Accountability Board, re-established after Douglas took office December 31, 2002, received high praise from state officials. The program, which uses citizen volunteers instead of the courts to mete out appropriate punishment for first-time juvenile offenders, has been written up in Boise newspapers and has drawn the attention of state legislators, Douglas was told.
“I was told the program made Boundary County look compassionate and showed we care,” Douglas said. “I was also informed that juvenile corrections people love the program. It showed them we are willing to be forward thinkers.”
By assuming responsibility for the crimes of youth at the local level, Boundary County saved the state a considerable sum and provided young offenders a more constructive way to atone for their wrongs that is proving more effective that locking them up in state juvenile detention facilities.
According to Dickson, it costs the state $25.1-million to keep about 429 juveniles in custody each year. That’s $69,019 per day. And incarceration in the state system tends to send back to the community a more hardened offender, one more likely to re-offend than an offender who has to face people he or she likely knows and who is given punishment that’s more appropriate to the crime.
One statistic Douglas takes pride in is the “in the system” percentage; the percentage of juvenile offenders dealt with by a county who end up in the state corrections system. Kootenai County’s rate ranges between eight to 10-percent. Boundary County’s “in the system” rate is a fraction of that, a mere 0.8-percent, for the same number of kids. Douglas said he credits the fine work of probation supervisor Jackie Bacon and her staff and the work done by D.A.R.E. Officer Joel Minor as keys behind the success.
“I told Mr. Dickson that the probation officers work very hard and effectively with our youth,” he said. “I know they truly care about helping them become good citizens.”
Douglas is an advocate of the D.A.R.E. Program, providing funding to support the program.
“I have given money and support to the D.A.R.E. Program because it is a good investment in the future,” he said. “The children we help today will be leading our country and community in a very few years, and I want to invest the time, effort and money in them to help them reach their fullest potential. We all win when we take care of our kids. In Boundary County, we are blessed with some of the very best, and we have a local government that recognizes this.”
Working with youth offenders rather than locking them away isn’t always easy, Douglas said, but it’s sometimes the right thing to do. In addition to helping D.A.R.E., Douglas also helps fund drug testing kits used by the probation department. The kits aren’t cheap, but he said they have a way of helping keep young offenders facing addiction problems in line.
“It’s hard for people young or old to walk the narrow path and overcome addiction,” he said, “but if they know they will be tested, they have a little extra incentive to work harder at overcoming their problems.”
In the end, he said, it all boils down to helping people overcome their issues and addictions and become good citizens.
“The prosecutor’s office recommends what we believe is most just and appropriate,” Douglas said. “If a juvenile or an adult belongs in state custody, that’s what we recommend. But that is not usually necessary with juvenile offenders. One of my goals at the outset was to try to reform the local system so we could work with more kids and help them become better citizens. Our greatest achievement as a community is the quality of the youth that leave here each year and enter the outside world. They make us proud, and I am glad to be part of the system here to guide and support them.”
Before a juvenile offender is sent before the Youth Accountability Board, Douglas reviews their case carefully and usually meets with local law enforcement and the probation department.
“I believe the officers and probation officers have a pretty good idea of the merits of each juvenile,” he said. “They often have insight that I can get in no other way, so we listen carefully when they offer opinions. The law gives my office final say in deciding the course of prosecution, but we gather information along the way to ensure we are doing all we can. Where there are victims involved, we talk to them and listen to their views. In many cases, the victim knows the child who committed the offense, and that gives us valuable insight. We use that information to enable us to come up with a plan to deal effectively with a bad situation. I don’t expect everyone to always like our decision, but I honestly wouldn’t stay in this position if I ever felt that what we’re doing didn’t matter or that we’re not doing our best.”