Josh Farley writes:
Arrests of teens and young people in Washington are hitting record lows, according to Gov. Christine Gregoire’s advisory committee on juvenile justice.
As high as 57,773 arrests in 1994, they’ve now fallen to 34,597 in 2006, the advisory committee said. And, as you can imagine, Washington’s population hasn’t exactly been shrinking, so those numbers certainly appear to be positive.
The question is, why have the numbers declined?
Here’s what Janice O’Mahony, retired public policy expert and
current advisory chair, said in a press release:
“The effectiveness of prevention and treatment programs for at-risk and delinquent youth can be seen in the low rate of juvenile arrests. The (committee) believes that public policy is best when it is based on data and best practice research. Funding for prevention and treatment programs must be ensured so that youth, families, and their communities can sustain success.”
If you’d like more on Washington’s Juvenile Justice program, click here.
A special thanks to Kim Rubenstein, our incredible local news copy editor, for passing on this information.
Earlier this year Kitsaps juvenile detention center was at full capacity. I am curious if Kitsap is providing the kind of help to kids that the rest of the state is.