NCJ Number
74906
Date Published
1979
Length
25 pages
Annotation
The accomplishments of a Jefferson County, Kentucky, prehearing detention facility for juvenile status offenders from June 1977 through June 1979 are evaluated.
Abstract
The Phoenix House was established in order to separate status offenders from delinquents and to provide a small, nonsecure facility offering individual, family, and neighborhood services. Its objectives were to provide an eight-bed facility for short-term care at a cost comparable to less than that of the existing detention center, to reduce the number of status offenders held in secure detention to 25 percent of the 1975 level, and to provide care and crisis intervention counseling to 100 youths per year. In addition, the project aimed to recruit volunteers to assist the staff in special activities and to move 90 percent of the youth on to the appropriate referral within 48 hours of the dispositional hearing in juvenile court. Most of these objectives were met. In the 1978-1979 fiscal year, the program operated at an average cost per child per day of $41.41 as compared to $44.82 for secure detention; volunteers for the program were recruited from a nearby university. However, over 10 percent of the project's youths were charged with a variety of public offenses including felonies, and no substantial reduction in the number of status offenders held in secure detention resulted, probably because the number of status offenders detained increased. Slightly over half of the participants successfully completed the program, while over 25 percent left by going AWOL (absence without leave). In addition, nearly 20 percent of the population were returned to secure detention because of poor behavior or rules violations. Data tables are provided.