Missouri Juvenile Justice 101

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Missouri Juvenile Justice 101

• 45 separate juvenile circuits
• 24 locally operated juvenile detention centers
• At age 17, a youth is considered an adult
• Juvenile court can retain jurisdiction until age
  21 for abuse/neglect, status offenders, and law
  violators

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• 1995 As a result of the killing two public
  safety officers by juveniles, Missouri revised
  its juvenile code.

Dual Jurisdiction was introduced in Missouri at
that time.
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Although the JJDP does not require the separation
of certified juveniles from adult inmates in the
Department of Corrections, Missouri statute
requires this separation to ensure the safety and
protection of certified youth.
This show how serious Missouri is about
protecting youth under 17.
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Juveniles Referred for Homicide
The Montgomery City Youth Center, a 40 bed
facility, was built in response to the rise in
serious and violent crime in Missouri in the
mid-1990s as illustrated by this graph.
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In 2002, the JJDP Act was reauthorized. Among the
changes, the definition of adult inmate was
added.
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According to OJJDPs guidance manual, once a
youth who has been certified as an adult reaches
the states age of majority (17 in Missouri), he
or she must be separated from the juvenile
population within 6 months.
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In 2003, William Woodruff who was then the Deputy
Administrator for OJJDP, issued a memorandum to
states providing clarification on OJJDPs policy
regarding the separation of juvenile delinquent
offenders from young adult offenders in secure
juvenile detention and correctional facilities.
He announced that the implementation of this
policy clarification will require immediate
action from states with this issue.
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Missouri was given two years to come into
compliance with this core requirement of the Act.
Given the fiscal, and legislative prohibitions,
Missouri was unable to come into compliance, and
the two year period has now ended.
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Currently there are 15 dual jurisdiction youth at
the Montgomery City Youth Center. On a daily
basis, there are an average of 5 dual
jurisdiction youth over the age of 17 years - six
months.
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Missouri Division of Youth Services

• Treatment Approach Dual Jurisdiction
• Tim Decker, Director
• Bill Heberle, Deputy Director
• Brent Buerck, Program Administrator

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Missouri DYS - Statistical Overview

• 1,214 youth committed
• 82 Male 18 Female
• 45 - 16 and over
• 10 - 13 and younger
• 65 from metro areas
• Committing offenses
• 51 felonies
• 38 misdemeanors
• 11 juvenile offenses
• 32 educational disability
• 47 prior mental health

• 3,424 in case management
• 87.6 satisfactory discharge
• Recommitment rate 8.7
• 18 achieve GED or diploma prior to discharge
• 70 progress faster rate than peers in core
  subjects
• Dept. of Corrections Involvement (3 years after
  discharge/class of 2003)
• 8.6 incarceration
• 24 adult probation

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Elements of the Missouri System

• Safety Structure
• Safety 1st (public and youth)
• Focus on supervision and facilitation
• Human dignity and family-like small group
  environments (10 -12 youth)
• Disclosure and personal growth
• Humane Therapeutic Environment
• Group process/systems approach
• Behavior as a symptom of unmet needs and
  underlying issues
• Ongoing assessment/staff leadership
• Levels systems reflect treatment and change
  process
• Resistance to change normalized
• Healthy and caring adult/youth relationships
• Focus and build on strengths

• Family Community Engagement
• Services provided in closest possible proximity
  to families communities
• View youth in the context of family and community
• Family Inclusion parents are the experts on
  their own youth
• Collaboration and partnerships - Community
  Liaison Councils
• Continuity of Care Service Integration
• Comprehensive case management throughout youths
  stay in system
• Philosophical alignment of all services with
  vision, mission, and principles
• Driven by strengths and needs of youth and
  families youth dont fit the program, the
  program fits the youth
• Variety of options and levels of care least
  restrictive environment (secure, moderate,
  community, day treatment)

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Elements of the Missouri System

• Leadership Innovation
• Systemic and developmental approaches
• All leaders connected to the field and focused on
  young people families
• Value innovation and embrace change
• Training and professional development are an arm
  of management
• Focus on ongoing program improvement and
  accountability
• Open, Inclusive, Neutral
• Open communication multi-directional within and
  outside the system
• Neutrality, beyond blame
• Healthy conflict resolution
• Decentralized decision-making

• Quality Valued Staff
• Cultural representation staff reflect the
  ethnicity/culture of the youth and families
  served
• Staff value youth, see their strengths, and
  believe they can change and become contributing
  members of society
• Ongoing learning and professional development
• Staff are knowledgeable about youth issues
• Staff throughout the system are involved in
  planning efforts those working closest with
  youth and families have a powerful voice in the
  decision-making process
• Effective staff intervention in conflict and
  crisis situations

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Missouri Dual Jurisdiction Program

• Established 1995 RSMo 211.073 as part of
  Missouris Juvenile Crime Bill
• Dual Jurisdiction is a blended sentencing
  alternative in which the court may dually commit
  a certified youth offender to both the Division
  of Youth Services and the Department of
  Corrections. It allows the court to
  simultaneously invoke both a juvenile and adult
  sentence (the execution of which is suspended).

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Who is eligible?

• Certified youth offenders, provided the DYS
  Assessment is ordered prior to 17th birthday
• Males Females
• DYS must be in agreement with all Dual Commitments

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What is the Process?

1. Youth is certified
2. Youth pleads or is found guilty in the court of
   general jurisdiction
3. Court orders a DYS assessment
4. Youth is sentenced

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DYS Assessment Considers

• Seriousness of current offense viciousness,
  force violence involved
• Youths history criminal social
• Prior services received juvenile probation,
  DYS commitment, etc.
• Mental health needs
• Amenability to treatment - attitude motivation
  to participate in treatment education services
  provided

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Programs Length

• Length of individual placement varies but likely
  to range from 3 to 5 years
• Dependant, in part, upon
• Youths progress in treatment
• Attitude of the committing court
• Seriousness of offense(s)
• Victim Impact position
• Completion of education and treatment services
  available

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Extension Hearing

• Statute requires DYS to petition committing court
  to extend custody past the age of 18
• Typically completed during the youths 17th year
• Court reviews youths progress to determine if
  continued placement is appropriate
• Extension grants DYS continued custody up to 21st
  birthday

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Release Process

• 6-12 months prior to release, youth begins
  transition phase of programming focused on
  community re-entry, re-socialization, and
  restorative justice
• DYS petitions court for release hearing is
  held. Youths progress is reviewed and court
  makes release decision. Options include
• Probation
• Revoke the suspension of the adult sentence

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Programmatic Safeguards

• DYS must agree to accept all Dual commitments
  (RSMo 211.073.1.2)
• DYS may petition the court to remove youth from
  the program if they are not amenable to treatment
  (RSMo 211.073.3)
• Extension Hearings required to retain a youth
  past age 18 (RSMo 211.073.4)
• DYS has developed, tested implemented a
  diagnostic tool to determine if the Dual
  Commitment is appropriate

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Success of Dual Jurisdiction in MO

• All youth who have successfully completed the
  program have been released with the adult
  sentence remaining suspended
• Program results from 1996 inception - 2006
• 36 Youth Released (2 additional released in
  FY2007 but not captured here)
• 30 Successful 6 Unsuccessful
• Of the 30 Successful releases, 6 went to prison
• 83 Success
• Currently 15 in program cases pending

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Dual Jurisdiction Facility

• Montgomery City Youth Center
• Montgomery City, Missouri
• High Secure DYS Residential Program with
  Perimeter Fence
• 40 bed facility divided into 4 cottages

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Summary
It is ironic that a provision built into the
federal Act to protect juveniles can potentially
harm youth in Missouri as they would be less
likely to be considered for Dual Jurisdiction,
and more likely to be sentenced to prison as they
will have less time to receive treatment and
prove themselves to the court.
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We propose

• Upon the JJDP Acts reauthorization, the JJDP Act
  be modified to allow a provision for dual
  jurisdiction
• Or that the definition of adult inmate be
  modified or eliminated
• Or that states operating these programs prior to
  the JJDP Acts reauthorization be exempted or be
  analyzed on a state-by-state basis to be
  considered for a waiver