BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
The Governor called for
more juvenile justice reforms Friday. He plans to revamp an existing program
and create another one.
Per capita, Louisiana has
the worst incarceration rate for ages 21 and younger, but steps to reform the
current juvenile justice system had the Governor, Corrections higher-ups and
some legislators brainstorming in closed-door meetings all day Friday.
"Since 1998, the number of
youths in secure care has dropped from 1,600 to less than 400. Despite that
process, too many of our kids are slipping through the cracks resulting in more
youth incarceration and youth recidivism," said Jindal.
The Governor also says he
will create case management services that allows for mental health treatment
for juveniles on probation; plus he vows to revamp an existing program.
"We're proposing to refocus and rededicate the
families in need of services or FINS so it's more in line with its original
mission to care for at risk before they end up in the juvenile justice system,"
said Jindal.
New Orleans area Senator
J.P. Morrell reminded everyone where juvenile justice in Louisiana was just 15
years ago.
"During the 90's in Louisiana
our incarceration of juveniles was on the amnesty international watch list. We
were ranked up with places like Somalia and Croatia as far as how we treated
our juvenile offenders," said Morrell.
The Governor says the
truly corrupted juveniles will still be locked up. This program is targeting
those he says can still be helped.
"There are kids that can
be rehabilitated that need help that need to be accessing, whether its mental,
education or other family services on the front end. This is not about violent
kids this is about kids coming out of broken homes that we help them now can
prevent them from becoming criminals," said Jindal.
The plan also calls for
expanded mental health services for the at-risk kids.
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