Juvenile Justice in Indiana: Facing the Issues
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 385 789 CG 026 292 AUTHOR Smith, Doreen L. TITLE Juvenile Justice in Indiana:Facing the Issues. INSTITUTION Indiana Youth Inst., Indianapolis. SPONS AGENCY Annie E. Casey Foundation,Greenwich, CT. PUB DATE 95 NOTE 69p. AVAILABLE FROM Indiana Youth Institute, 333N. Alabama, Suite 200, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2151 ($13). PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Child Welfare; CorrectionalInstitutions; Delinquency; DelinquentRehabilitation; Delivery Systems; *Juvenile Courts; *JuvenileJustice; Laws; State Action; State Programs;Systems Development; *Youth Problems IDENTIFIERS *Indiana ABSTRACT The Indiana juvenile justicesystem is charged with intervening on behalf of youthfuloffenders for thepurposes of providing care, treatment, protection, or rehabilitation.This report provides an overview of the state's juvenile justicesystem, which has fallen under widespread criticism for manyyears. The following issues are identified: data reliability; problems withdetention; jurisdiction; funding and resources; placement; seriousjuvenile offenders; prevention programs; and poor coordination ofservices. Recent efforts to improve the juvenile justice system inIndiana are described, such as the establishment of various committeesto analyze and recommend improvements in the areas of:(1) policy; (2) fiscal issues; (3)legal issues; (4) prevention; (5)coordination; and (6) delivery of services. State-level reforms also includedtaking measures in social services, fundingefforts, residential placement practices, and statistical data collection. Actionstaken at the federal level are then outlined.Contains 75 notes. (JE) ****************************************w****************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRSare the best that can be made from the original document. **************A**********************************A********************* \.' /4.3. *"./` 111111X.I.Xmaximar,....mmimmina 111111.--- '1/4ft /7A's #21.61.1, "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE TH/S EDUCATION U S DEPARTMENT OF I /s MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Orri,ri of Criucationai R sean:iiand EDUCATIONAL RESO JRCESINFORMATION CENTE'l (ERIC) LC614111.11 T: P, This doer: nent has beenreproduced as iecoived from the person ororganization originating it O Minor changes hawbeen made le improve reproductionquality TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES tiot slated in the, Points ol view or opinions INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." document do not necessarilyrepresent sae official OERI positron orpolicy It -1-')EIST COPY Indiana Youth Institute Kids Count in Indiana Acknowledgements Board of Directors Steering Committee Officers We gratelaliy acknowledge the gener- Becky Buse ous support of the Annie E. Casey Founda- President: Big BrothersMig Sisters Andrew J. Paine, Jr., President & CEO Terre Haute, Indiana tion, without which this project would not NBD Indiana, Inc. have been possible. The Casey Foundation Indianapolis, Indiana Loret.a Oleksy is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted IN Chapter for the Prevention of Child Abuse Indianapolis, Indiana exclusively to disadvantaged children. It was Vice President: established by the founders of United Par- Diana Leslie, Partner Gayle Hall cel Service to improve the educational, so- 'Irnstee Renewal Project Indiana Education Policy Center Indianapolis, Indiana Bloomington, Indiana cial, economic, and physical well-being of children. Secretary/Freasurer. Gary Ingersoll Indiana University Edward L. Williams, President & CEO We also wish to thank the Kids Count Lakeshore Employment and Bloomington, Indiana Training Partnership, Inc. in Indiana Steering Committee members Dennis Jackson who provided direction and support and Gary, Indiana Indiana Department of Education Indianapolis, Indiana served as outside readers. The author is in- debted to the many state government and Members Carlyn Johnson youth-serving organization employees who Indiana Education Policy Center assisted with information gathering and Virginia Ball Indianapolis, Indiana Ball Associates clarification. The author would especially Muncie, Indiana Jim Killen like to thank Elizabeth Hayes, Indiana Indiana Youth Services Association Indianapolis, Indiana Criminal Justice Institute; Jim Miller, Indi- Pamela Carter. Attorney General ana Juvenile Justice Task Force; Jim Will- State of Indiana Jan Lindemann iams, Indiana Youth Services Association; Indianapolis, Indiana Indiana Coalition for Human Services Indianapolis, Indiana Chris Ball, Indiana Judicial Center, and H. Lee Cooper, Chairman & CEO Rhonda Impink, Indiana University, School CNB Bancshares, Inc. Robert Maybaum of Social Work. Evansville, Indiana Indiana Youth Legislative Task Force Indianapdlis, Indiana A special salute to Indiana Youth Insti- Jerry Finn, Consultant tute staffJudith Erickson, Judy Reuter, and Susan P. McCaffrey Kelli Webb who assisted with all facets of Starlight, Indiana United Way of Central Indiana Community Service Council the report. Anne Hoover, Director Indianapolis, Indiana Community Partnerships with Youth Fort Wayne, Indiana Mary Pilat Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana Gary Ingersoll, Executive Associate Dean Juvenile Justice in Indiana: Facing the Is- Indiana University/School of Education Evelyn Kidley-Turner sues is published in the public interest by Bloomington, Indiana Indiana Department of Correction the Indiana Youth Institute, a tax-exempt Indianapoiis, Indiana Ian Rolland, Chairman & CEO nonprofit organization. It is the second in a Lincoln National Corporation Carol Rogers series of reports addressing juvenile justice Fort Wayne, Indiana School of Business in Indiana. Readers are encouraged to copy Indiana Business Research Center Emmett K. Smelser, President & Publisher Indianapolis, Indiana and share its contents as long as they in- The Palladium-Item clude a credit to Juvenile Justice in Indi- Richmond, Indiana Tom Rugh ana: Facing the Issues by Doreen L. Smith Indiana Association of United Ways Indianapolis, Indiana (Indianapolis, IN: Kids Count in Indiana, Mark Volker, Partner Indiana Youth Institute, 1994). Price Waterhouse CPAs Carole Stein Indianapolis, Indiana Indiana Family & Social Services Administration Indianapolis, Indiana Special Youth Advisors Vicki Timm Indiana Primary Health Care Association The artwork featured on the front cover of this publication was created by Phillip B. Rebecca Debono Reelsville, Indiana Lynam, whose artistic talents WI has used Bloomington, Indiana Marge Towel! Marion County Mental Health since his freshman year of high school. Doris Woo Association & COVOH Phillip is currently enrolled at the Art Insti- Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana tute of Cleveland, Ohio. 3 a . 1 . , Facing the Issues 1995 Doreen L. Smith Director, Advocacy Programs rm Kids Count in Indianakids Indiana Youth Institute Indianapolis, Indiana 4 About the Indiana Youth Institute Facing the Issues We believe that the state of Indiana can and should become a statethat genuinely cares about its young people and that its national reputa- tion should reflect that concern and commitment. To enhance that commitment, the In- diana Youth Institute works with adults who care about youth. IYI advocates for better service for Indiana's yoang people, Contents both directly and in collabora- tion with others. IYI develops strategies to increase youth-serving professionals' I. Introduction 1 knowledge, caring, and compe- tence. II. Overview of the Juvenile Justice IYI culcivates and supports in- novative projects that hold System 7 promise for improving the lives of Indiana's young people. III. Facing the Issues in the Juvenile We believe that the key to the suc- 11 cess of young people is inthe hands Justice System of the adults who care about them. IYI is an intermediary agency that sup- IV. Addressing Problems at the ports youth development profession- 37 als and decision makers with advo- State Level cacy, research, and training. V. Addressing Problems at the Federal Level 55 Author: Doreen L. Smith Editor: Jean B. Rose VI. Making the Investment 59 Designer: ludy C. Reuter Research: Judith B. Erickson 61 KeIli 1. Webb Notes Facing the Issues I I. Introduction Indiana's juvenile justice system is in trouble. Long criticized by advocates, families, and analysts alike, the system has often faced court action and consent decrees involving the petitioning parties: overcrowding at the Indiana Boys' School, insufficient numbers of child welfare caseworkers in Marion county, violation of children's civil rights through placement delays because of the Local Coordinating Committees, anduse of adult jails to hold juvenile offenders. One juvenile court judge from a rural county frequently refersto the system as"a five-legged rabbit that can't run"and hopes that efforts to revise it will not create"a four-legged hippo that still can't run but will cost a whole lotmore county dollars to feed."Despite the long history of concern, little has changed until recently in the system designed nearly a century ago to actin loco parentis(in the place or position of the parent), through the authority ofparens patriae(state acting as guardian or protector of citizens who are unable to protect themselves). The Indiana juvenile justice system is charged with interveningon behalf of youthful offenders for specific purposes: to provide care, treatment, rehabilitation,or protec- tion. This system is at once 92 separate systems, withmany governance and funding variations among Indiana's 92 counties. Tensions among levels ofgover ment (state