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Juvenile recidivism on the rise

Despite lower overall numbers of children in juvenile probation, the percentage of those minors graduating into the adult prison system has risen, according to the director of juvenile probation.

The Lycoming County commissioners are set to renew several juvenile probation contracts today, which Director Ed Robbins said has helped stymie the transition.

Around 2003, Robbins said he examined about 1,800 active adult probation clients and determined 14 percent had been involved with juvenile probation previously. In 2017, he ran the same test and determined that 20 percent of adult probation cases had a history in juvenile probation.

“The statewide Pennsylvania recidivism percentage is right around 25 percent,” he said. “Within two years after they’re released, they get either readjudicated or convicted.”

Between the early 2000s and today, however, the amount of children seen in the juvenile probation system has shrunk from about 900 to only 300-400.

Only 8 percent of those kids were placed into residential living situations, which the county attempts to limit due to the high cost.

“When I come before you with these residential options, know that roughly 92% in 2017 of our kids, we handled in the community,” Robbins said at the commissioners’ Tuesday meeting.

The staff at juvenile probation, children and youth services, school districts and police also work with the children’s families to stop antisocial behavior as a result of the environment.

“The genesis of most of this stuff comes from their home environment. We were all teenagers once and we pushed the envelope as teenagers, we made dumb mistakes, and some teens today do,” said Robbins. “But really the issues, risks and needs that the kids that we see have, comes from their parents’ lack of nurturing or oversight.”

Many children simply “follow in their parents’ footsteps,” he added.

Though there are no statistics available to determine the relationship between recidivism and residential placement, Robbins said his “gut feeling” tells him they are recommitted at a lower rate.

“I think they’re not graduating into the adult system,” he said. “For the most part, they’ve got a higher risk and need. Certainly they come from a tough part of town, tough environment. They’ve got to overcome a whole lot more than my kids do, or a kid that just makes one mistake.”

Three juvenile probation services are up for renewal for the 2019-20 fiscal year today: JusticeWorks, a violation initiative program which supports and mentors kids in the community; Diakon/Spin Youth Services, which specializes in youths who have sexually offended; and Mid-Atlantic Youth Services, a secure residential facility in the Pittston area.

The next meeting is at 10 a.m. today in the briefing room at the Executive Plaza, 330 Pine St.

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