Studies
suggest that the juvenile delinquent stands to suffer severely from even
short-term stays in secure detention centers, and subsequently, supporters seek
substitutes to this seemingly simplistic solution. Specifically, advocates for
disaffected children aim to find alternatives to locking juvenile delinquents
away until something more appropriate is found for them, and moreover, these
alternatives would likely be cost-effective ways of addressing the need for
keeping offenders close at hand before and after adjudication.
The
following are other types of facilities that may be used in this country to
temporarily hold the juvenile delinquent populace:
While not technically a discussion of how facilities may
better serve the needs of juvenile delinquents, there is the possibility that
they may be released back to their homes prior to appearance in juvenile court
non-traditional “facility” of merit for juvenile delinquents is the
reporting center, which would allow children to stay out of secure detention
centers provided they report daily to it. In particular, this seems beneficial
to the low-income portion of the juvenile delinquent population. Alongside
heavy scrutiny of their case, juvenile delinquents may draw positives from the
intervention strategies, recreational programs, and life skills workshops
offered by reporting centers, as well as to the free dinners therein.
In addition, a juvenile delinquent may find himself or
herself in a residential placement without having to live under lock and key.
Rather than having to be subjected to the perils of detention/commitment, he or
she may participate in residential programs that, along with the above options,
employ child/family shelters in trying to avoid detention.
Then again, depending on the conditions of their home
environments, juvenile delinquents may not be eligible to return to their
families, especially if an undercurrent of abuse
families may be sufficient to get the juvenile delinquent out of detention, at
least temporarily.
