Number of young offenders in DYS custody is in decline

The number of young criminal offenders in the custody of the state’s juvenile justice agency has dropped to historically low levels, the Department of Youth Services told legislators yesterday.

In 2010, there were 730 young offenders in DYS custody, down from 1,113 in 2006.

 

The number who were in custody awaiting trials also dropped, from an average of 300 a day to fewer than 200, since the department started the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, DYS commissioners said.

 

In 2005, the year the program started, the number of young offenders in custody for both the full year and those awaiting trial totaled 5,714.

 

Commissioner Jane Tewksbury said the goal is to help nonviolent offenders get social services, while keeping them away from violent criminals who could influence them to commit more serious crimes.

 

“We are really at our core a corrections agency, detention, corrections, and parole,’’ she said. “But we try to recognize, unlike the adult criminal justice system, we are dealing with kids.’’

DYS operates 57 facilities, including group homes and secure locked units, and runs 29 community-based programs for offenders who live with a parent or guardian.

 

The costs for residential beds decreased 25 percent from 2008 to 2011, the DYS said.

 

The recidivism rate among young offenders has also dropped, from 50 percent in 2000 to about 33 percent.

 

Assistant Commissioner Peter Forbes said the department works with judges and district attorneys to minimize the number of young offenders sentenced to DYS custody. In the long run, he said, the public is safer if young offenders are rehabilitated.

 

Tewksbury, appointed commissioner by Governor Mitt Romney and asked to stay on by Governor Deval Patrick, was at the State House to brief legislators on the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative.

 

Representative Kay Khan — chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities — said the program is working and “gives kids in the DYS system the services they need, rather than locking them up.’’

 

But Massachusetts has slipped as a model juvenile justice system, Tewksbury said. During the 1980s, the state was considered first in the nation for its handling of juvenile offenders. Now, Missouri ranks first, she said.

 

“Somewhere we lost our way,’’ she said. “Obviously the budget situation has really strained our ability to meet all the needs of all the kids we serve.’’

 

The department’s budget in fiscal 2011 is $143 million, down from $163 million in fiscal 2009. Patrick recommended $135 million for DYS in fiscal 2012.