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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Bill provides comprehensive supports for young people in juvenile system
By BILL SCHUFFENHAUERMillions of Americans will watch the upcoming Olympic Games, not only to see American athletes win international fame and recognition, but also to hear the stories of those athletes, whose struggles and perseverance will be rewarded on the winners' podiums. We watch the Olympics to marvel at the capabilities of the human body, but also at those of the mind, which fights through hardship and turmoil, and revels in victory and recognition. Athletes doggedly push to reach the pinnacle that is Olympic competition, but some climb mountains that involve more than just physical and mental training.
My silver medal as a member of the U.S. Bobsled team in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was the peak of my figurative mountain. I was born to a heroin-addicted mother and never knew my father, spending my childhood bouncing from one foster family to another.
I drank and used drugs, introduced to me by my mother and stepfather, at an age when I should have been playing with schoolmates at recess. I skipped school, I went hungry, I stole and I ended up in juvenile detention. Eventually, I discovered sports in middle school and, through a combination of hard work and luck, managed to become what I am today.
Stories like mine, however, are few and far between.
Children who come from backgrounds like mine usually have grimmer life outcomes. They can become involved with alcohol and drugs, engage in serious delinquent behavior, or end up in gangs, committing more serious crimes. These youth often come from histories of neglect, abuse or both. Some have diagnosable mental health conditions that are serious factors contributing to their delinquent behavior.
Society's response to these young people is overwhelmingly punitive. They can be transferred to adult court, where they may be held in adult jails pre-trial and sentenced to adult prison time.
In Utah, there is no age limit for detaining a juvenile in adult jail pre-trial, though our state does better than some by requiring juveniles to be separated from adults while they are in jail. Had I not made certain decisions, I could have been one of those young people behind bars.
States with overly punitive approaches, however, do not help youth with troubled histories turn their lives around. They stigmatize young people and, especially for youth detained in adult facilities, turn them into hardened criminals more likely to commit serious crimes in the future.
Fortunately, there is legislation currently pending in the U.S. Senate that would help states to improve our juvenile justice systems and increase public safety, by working to keep kids out of adult jails and prisons and providing more effective alternatives in the juvenile justice system. S3155, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2008, will make serious improvements to the juvenile justice system in all states.
The bill promotes comprehensive supports for youth in the juvenile justice system, including alternatives to detention and incarceration, and assessment for mental health and substance abuse.
It would also reduce barriers to states that maintain and keep youth convicted in adult court to remain in juvenile facilities, by not withholding federal money to states that employ this method, and require states to take tangible steps to reduce the disproportionate contact youth of color have with the juvenile justice system.
Taking these steps will improve the lives of youth in the system while better preventing them from offending again, and I am hopeful that Sen. Orrin Hatch, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, will co-sponsor and vote for this important legislation to better serve the youth and the public of Utah.
Young people in these situations need effective supports that will help them turn their lives around. Rehabilitation is a real goal for these young people; the approach we take toward them will play a big role in determining whether they take the path of future crime, or that of productive contribution to society.
Not all young people can have my luck, but improving our juvenile justice system will make fewer of them need it.
Schuffenhauer graduated from Roy high, was a standout WSU track athlete and an Olympic silver medalist in 2002 as a member of the Men's USA Bobsleigh Team.
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