JDAI Site Updates
Detention Population in Kansas City Reduced by 66 Percent
Having completed its second year as a JDAI site, Jackson County (Kansas City), Mo., is no longer faced with the possibility of replacing its current facility with a larger detention center.
Following years of operating over its capacity, Jackson County lowered its average daily population by more than half. In May 2006, there were 75 youth in a facility designed for 68. In May 2008, the facility housed 26 youth.
Jackson County JDAI coordinator Denny Atherton said this level of sustained reduction in population has not been seen for at least 16 years and, as a result, the county has shelved all plans to expand the facility.
"We have reduced the average daily population each year since becoming a JDAI site, and this May we had the lowest average population in at least two decades," Atherton said.
"Not only have we shrunk our facility, we have also lowered our overall operating costs substantially."
The county was able to achieve these results through re-defining the purpose of detention, engaging the community as stakeholders, developing non-secure alternative programs and implementing standardized decision-making protocols.
For more information, contact Denny Atherton at denny.atherton@courts.mo.gov.
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