Sustained and Deliberate Focus on Girls Realizes Impressive Results
Following a deliberate and intentional process to address the inappropriate detention of girls, the JDAI site in Washoe County (Reno), Nevada, has instituted changes in admissions policies and implemented a host of gender-responsive practices that have contributed to a significant reduction in the number of girls entering detention and improved opportunities for girls systemwide.
As a result, between 2005 and 2007, the Washoe County Department of Juvenile Services reduced its female detention population by 22 percent, from 521 to 404. The average daily female population declined from 16.6 to 9.8.
The outcomes occurred after Washoe County decided to assess the impact of its detention policies and practices on girls. In consultation with Francine Sherman, law professor at the Boston College Law School and JDAI technical assistance provider, Washoe County convened a working group that focused on the needs of girls and monitored how the system interacted with girls on a daily basis.
Examining aggregate and case-level data, the county discovered that overrides and policy holds were contributing to the overuse of detention for girls with low risk-assessment scores. In fact, the low scores indicated that these girls could be better served at home or in a community alternative without compromising public safety.
Washoe discovered that most girls in detention were not a threat to society, but were locked up for being a "threat to themselves" – a widely documented practice in jurisdictions around the country. These girls constitute a high-need, low-risk population; and in many cases, these girls’ first contact with the juvenile justice system is as a runaway or an incorrigible. Subsequently, girls were being detained for violating probation, for bench warrants, for leaving a non-secure shelter or for curfew violations.
"We had become comfortable in placing low-end offenders on probation – the very girls who probably didn’t need to be on probation," said Carey Stewart, the department’s division director for early intervention. "We were pushing status offenders and misdemeanants deeper and deeper into the system. No one was looking at their real needs, and we were missing all of the opportunities to divert and prevent future delinquent behavior."
Through a deliberative process, Washoe County has reduced its detention of low risk girls. This includes a 64% decrease of detention for girls with low RAI scores, and 56% less detentions due to staff overrides of RAI scores.
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