The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

After the 2003 passage of legislation that called for changing the juvenile system, last summer the state closed down the much-criticized youth prison in Tallulah. Under Blanco, the state has also shifted more money into community programs that try to rehabilitate youth in less-secure settings.
Bridge City reforms
Officials are now working on a pilot program at the Bridge City Correctional Center for Youth, which is being revamped to create small living units that experts say are key to rehabilitating juvenile delinquents. That center, the third of the state's three youth prisons, was not included in the prison-closure bill.

Juvenile justice advocates have commended Blanco's decision to work with officials from Missouri -- a state whose system is considered to be a model of effective rehabilitation of young criminals -- to improve Louisiana's system.

But in recent months, advocates have chafed at the slow speed of Blanco's reforms, saying their research shows that despite fewer young offenders at the prisons, the level of violence has been consistent.

"We have to get to the point where we are salvaging these children," Sen. Donald Cravins, D-Arnaudville, told the Senate Judiciary B Committee. After some discussion, Cravins deferred his bill, saying he didn't have the votes to pass it.

Senate Bill 321 would have closed Jetson Correctional Center for Youth outside Baton Rouge by the end of the year and shut down the Swanson Correctional Center for Youth in Monroe by the end of 2006.

By closing these institutions, the state would recognize ample savings to spend on building smaller centers across the state that would help families keep in touch with their relatives who are in the system, said David Utter, executive director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana.

Injuries remain high

This week Utter's group released a report based on injury reports and interviews with youths that found the rate of offender fights and injuries has remained high. For example, 175 youths were at Jetson in February, 90 fewer than were there in February 2004. But the infirmary staff reported almost the same number of injuries from violence or self-harm, with 63 injuries recorded in February 2005 and 67 in that month last year.

Several mothers testified that their children had been abused both by guards and other youths at Swanson and Jetson since the state began trying to reshape the youth prisons by closing Tallulah and moving hundreds of young offenders to less-restrictive programs or their homes.

Gamba Wings of Baton Rouge said her brother was raped by two inmates at Jetson in December, while Lauri Thompson of Springhill said her son was raped at Swanson in November.

Other mothers said their sons had been beaten by both inmates and guards, saying the violence at the institutions is pervasive.

"What are they going to do with these kids?" Joeanne Wings asked after the hearing, expressing frustration that the bill failed.

Simon Gonsoulin, deputy state secretary of youth services, said his agency is committed to reducing the violence, saying every allegation is investigated. But despite problems, he said the two prisons should not be scrapped.

Reform plan in October

The Office of Youth Development plans to release a plan in October that will lay out how the state will move toward changing the system over the next five years, he said. Gonsoulin expects the plan to call for reshaping both Swanson and Jetson by following the model at Bridge City, where buildings have been revamped and staff have been trained by Missouri officials on their group therapy concept.

However, Utter said Missouri's youth jails are much smaller and scattered across the state, which means the inmates are working with staff in small groups and are in close proximity to their families. He said that even if the state keeps running Jetson and Swanson, cities such as Lake Charles, Lafayette and Alexandria still need their own smaller facilities.

"How are they going to pay for that if you don't recognize some savings by closing Jetson and Swanson?" he asked.

Though agreeing that smaller facilities are needed, Mark Steward, the director of Missouri's Division of Youth Services, said he thinks creating workable programs in Louisiana's established youth prisons is possible.

Steward and his staff have been visiting Louisiana to train the Bridge City center's staff in his state's treatment philosophy for juvenile delinquents, which centers on creating "positive peer pressure" in groups of 10 to 12 youths who spend their entire days together. Missouri's juvenile offenders have a much lower recidivism rate than Louisiana's, with fewer youths returning to the criminal justice system.

Steward said he understands parents' frustrations with the current system but that it takes time to build a different work culture and retrofit buildings to make them more amenable to working with small groups.

"It is almost like anything else: You have to lay a good foundation," he said.

.Laura Maggi can be reached at lmaggi@timespicayune.com or (225) 342-5590.

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