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: Grits for Breakfast

Texas counties can unlock kids and savings

The headline of this post is the title of a new policy brief (pdf) from Marc Levin at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Here's a notable excerpt:A Dallas County detention bed costs $54,955 a year to operate. Nationally, two-thirds of youths in detention are held on allegations of non-violent offenses. Additionally, after controlling for offense severity and other factors, detained youths are three times more likely to enter costly long-term residential placement. Evidence suggests that, by mixing low-risk youths with more deviant peers and disrupting family life and schooling, detention actually increases re-offending. Moreover, detention does not help the victim obtain restitution.Dallas and Harris counties implemented the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) in 2007...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on January 04, 2010 (boomark / email).