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Factors contributing to increased juvenile detention admissions and length of stay
4:26:58
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94 sec
Commissioner Jess Dannhauser explains the factors contributing to the increase in juvenile detention admissions and the complexities of case management for detained youth.
- Many young people spend only a day or two in detention before being released by a judge or making bail
- About half of the current detainees have been there for a year or more due to complex cases
- Most detainees are held on serious felony offenses, often related to gun violence
- Efforts are being made to lower length of stay and improve case understanding for detained youth
- A recent meeting with various stakeholders focused on strategies to address these issues
- The uncertainty about case outcomes is noted as particularly challenging for adolescents in detention
Jess Dannhauser
4:26:58
Thank you for that chair.
4:26:59
So you know as you can tell from those numbers, lot of young people spend a day or two and then are released by the judge or either make bail or some other arrangement is made.
4:27:12
And so the averages can confuse us a little bit.
4:27:16
For the young people who are with us today, as we discussed earlier this week, about half are there for a year or more.
4:27:26
This is as a result of very complex cases.
4:27:29
We're grateful to CJI for earlier this week convening us with the Office of Court Administration, the judges in the youth parts, the lawyers in the youth parts, the service providers to look at ways at which we can lower length of stay and make sure that young people understand their case, are actively engaged in their case, and have the opportunity to consider their options fully.
4:27:59
And so we have also seen an increase in admissions.
4:28:04
You know, most of the young people who are with us are there on serious felony offenses, often related to gun violence.
4:28:12
And so we want to make sure that they get the best representation and also that we move those cases along so that they we don't want our kids to be uncertain about what's next.
4:28:23
It is one of the most difficult things for an adolescent as you know well to not be sure about what's coming next so we try to fill those gaps for them.
Althea V. Stevens
4:28:31
Yeah.