JDAI Site Updates
Louisiana Parish Decreases Detention by Diverting Misdemeanors
Caddo Parish, La., has used various strategies to reduce its average daily population from a high of 47 in 2006 to just 25 in 2009.
One of the main reasons for these positive changes has been the implementation of a “misdemeanor referral center” which is being used, with great success, to divert low-level youth from the juvenile justice system.
The idea for the center originated shortly after Caddo Parish had begun serious engagement with JDAI. Local stakeholders looking for “low hanging fruit” reviewed the daily detention census and found a number of youth who were placed in detention for misdemeanor offenses. These youth were not a risk to public safety and had no history of failing to appear in court.
Law enforcement normally releases misdemeanor offenders to their parents. But if an adult cannot be located, the youth is brought to detention. As a result, youth were being booked into detention primarily because no adult was available or willing to come get them at the time of their arrest.
In the summer of 2007, JDAI stakeholders approached a local truancy program that worked with school-aged youth picked up by local law enforcement during school hours and cited for truancy. Staff process the youth and then transport them to school or into a guardian’s custody. The program’s administrators enthusiastically agreed to expand their scope of operation and accept youth charged with a misdemeanor offense when no adult was available.
The program finds a responsible adult to take custody, contacts family members, and provides transportation home when necessary.
After a trial period that saw fewer youth being detained, the Caddo Parish Commission agreed to provide supplemental funding to keep the joint truancy and misdemeanor referral center operational year-round.
The vast majority of youth diverted from detention by this initiative have been youth of color arrested for fighting at school.
During the first year of operation, 161 youth were brought to the facility instead of being detained. Of that number, 138 were minority youth. During the second year, the center saw 164 youth, 155 of them minority, who faced detention, including 124 charged with a school-based fight-related offense.
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| Caddo Parish JDAI team, left to right: Tia Gipson, consulting social worker; Jamie Scoggin, consulting social worker; Isaac Manuel, attendant, MRC; Steve Snow, Caddo Parish JDAI site coordinator; Charles Mock, attendant, MRC; Edwin Scott, director, Caddo Parish juvenile services; Gerald “Coach” Kimble, director, MRC. |
| Photo by Lavisha Edwards, Caddo Parish, JDAI data analyst |
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