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Show la VcjI Pfiqfgeis i WOSELYN KIRK 11 first priorities of J I i-med Utah Juvenile , --vis revamping would J iiie development of 4 'or youth not need-j need-j viiional care, accord-J accord-J Moy Archibald, chief ,. lhs at the Juvenile i": farmington. Archibald said if the "rail corrections plan is :sl that it will have "-7 implications for corrections in Davis a. 'Member committee 4 the juvenile de-Ingram de-Ingram at the Youth ni Center (YDC) i, formerly known as ( Industrial School. A ' recommended that tard-core youthful " " offenders or about Went of the juvenile s be placed in that according to Mr. aJf SAID this will mean "re court approved 'tanes, or specialized fjt :Lor. must be . Wtortheotherl0tol5 ,:;"! the juvenile of-, of-, 'rs ho have real Based on the recommendations ot the committee com-mittee members on alternatives alterna-tives to troubled youth, these juveniles should be kept in the community in shelter homes, in specialized group homes where there are counselors, coun-selors, or in private homes such as the Odyssey House in Salt Lake City. Mr. Archibald said if the program is adopted, the juvenile court district will "have to go after federal money to provide housing in the community of the type needed." He said that three group homes are being built by Great Basin Youth Services Ser-vices in Salt Lake City to begin to fill the need. UNTIL THE specialized homes in Davis County are developed, homes in other counties or foster homes approved through the Division of Family Services (DFS) will provide the alternative alter-native housing. According to Mr. Archibald, the institutionalization institu-tionalization of most of the 10 to 15 percent of the severe juvenile cases only teaches them how to live in an institution insti-tution and is not helpful to rehabilitating them. "They can learn to dn beautifully in an institution and then when they are released, they have the same problems they had before." WHEN community based facilities are available to juvenile offenders, they can learn to make it on the outside and parents can become involved in-volved in the rehabilitation, Mr. Archibald said. The Youth Development Center (YDC) should only serve as a holding place for the hard-core juveniles, Mr. Archibald said. "We can't hold a wide-range of kids there. There is a big gap between the hard-core juvenile and the status offender." of-fender." THE committee has also recommended that the juvenile court system, with the enforcement agency be placed under the Department of Corrections under the direction of the executive department of state government. govern-ment. Now the juvenile corrections department is fragmented, Mr. Archibald said. This change would require the action of the legislature, he said. He said at the present time there are about 80 youths in homes or in foster homes in Davis County who are being seen by probation officers in the county. Last year 38 youth from the county were sent to the YDC. The recommendation recommenda-tion by the committee is that once community based homes are established, that those sent by the order of the juvenile judge to the YDC should be required to stay for at least six months. AUTHORITIES say there are "some juveniles who must be kept physically secure in a correctional facility in order to protect the public." That correctional institution in-stitution would serve as a treatment and rehabilitation center, but will also hold the juvenile offender in physical custody "for a sufficient period of time to assure a change of attitudes and behavior." Mr. Archibald said he has been working with administrators adminis-trators from the Davis County Family and Mental Health Center to provide a short term treatment center in the county where some of the youthful offenders can be stabilized until they can be sent back into their own homes or into foster homes. "We are also looking at other possible programs that could be set up in the county to provide community based treatment centers," he said. |