Kids under 14 shouldn’t be placed in Ohio’s three juvenile lockups, according to one of 26 recommendations from a working group assembled to come up with potential improvements for Ohio’s Department of Youth Services (DYS). The recommendations come after a series of reports that 40% of kids return to DYS or end up in adult prisons after they’re released.
Read the working group's report here.
The report noted research that showed "the younger the kids are generally the worse they do in a secure congregate environment." The group said there are better options for children under 13 than juvenile detention centers, such as alternative placements. Another recommendation was that non-violent first-time offenders go to one of 11 community corrections facilities (CCFs) instead of a youth prison.
“It's our belief that these low-level juvenile offenders should not be placed out of home except in exceptional circumstances, and when out of home placement is necessary, CCFs can better serve these youth," said Tom Stickrath, a former DYS director who chaired the working group.
The group's report also recommended that mandatory detention sentences be eliminated for youth who commit crimes with guns, and to give juvenile court judges more discretion in sentencing in those cases. "Over incarceration leads to numerous negative outcomes," according to the report, including an increase in recidivism for youth locked up for more than six months. And experts said those kids are less likely to graduate from high school and more likely to experience trauma.
Stickrath said the recommendations are designed for long-term improvement for both the kids in the juvenile justice system and the staff in those facilities, who are often overwhelmed and worried about their safety.
“These recommendations I've highlighted may not have universal support," Stickrath said. "Transformational policies rarely do. And we also recognize the public's rightfully concerned, given recent headlines about juveniles stealing cars and causing havoc in some communities.”
There are around 470 kids ages 12 to 21 who committed felonies in the three DYS prisons, with 10- and 11-year-olds in private facilities.
Gov. Mike DeWine said the state capital budget has funding to close the DYS Cuyahoga Hills facility and replace it with four smaller ones, each with 36 beds. The state hopes to do the same with the other two prisons in Circleville and Massillon.
"System transformation is not just about changing the physical plant, but it includes shifting away from facilities that are institutional in character and design, and moving towards building environments that are trauma informed with trauma responsive practices," said DYS director Amy Ast. "We simply know better now than we did when those facilities were built 50 years ago."
"The move towards smaller is better, which we feel so strongly about—I think if we had nothing else in the report but that, it would, I think hopefully be a legacy piece to forever change the shape of juvenile justice in Ohio," Stickrath said.
DeWine said some recommendations will need legislation, such as the funding for county prosecutors to take on cases of assaults on staff at DYS facilities. Four lawmakers served as advisers to the panel, and DeWine said he hopes legislators take the report seriously and start discussing the recommendations.
The report that sparked the creation of this working group was a nine-month investigation published in USA Today newspapers, including the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Columbus Dispatch, the Akron Beacon Journal and the Canton Repository.
