A recent article, How to stop cycle of gun violence entangling Charleston-area black youths?, by Andrew Knapp and Melissa Boughton laments a recent spike in violence committed by and toward black youths in the Charleston area. Several possible causes and strategies were offered by various people from the community. Thankfully, our level of gun violence is not as high as Chicago’s, but a study of their violence can provide clues to help us “figure out why” this occurs. Linda Teplin, Ph.D. and colleagues (2005) studied 1829 delinquent youths in Chicago for 7 years. By the end of the period, 65 of the youth died with approximately 90% of those being by homicide. Of those who were killed by homicide, nearly all of them were by gunshots, and nearly 97% had sold drugs. Without knowing the specific histories of those in Charleston, awareness of local trends lends credence to the theory that the “why” is, similar to Chicago, because drugs and guns are a dangerous mix.
Understanding why is only the first part of addressing the problem. You have to choose the most effective strategy to change it. Margaret Barber, director of the state Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and former DJJ Director William Byars should be commended for moving the department away from its reliance on incarceration. Juvenile incarceration has been shown to actually increase the likelihood of future crimes, thus it was shown to have negative cost effectiveness when rated by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, a non-partisan research group created to identify the most effective policies and strategies. It is certain that this move toward more community based programs has had a positive impact on the outcomes that have been achieved and noted in the recent article.
Despite the progress and move toward more effective practice, there is still a need for improvement to make the area safer. There has been tremendous progress in recent years in the development of effective practices for juvenile delinquency. There are several programs that have been found to be quite effective in curbing juvenile crime in study after study. Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development is an organization at the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), at the University of Colorado Boulder and funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Blueprints provides a registry of evidence-based programs for youth violence based on very strict criteria of evidence. To date they have evaluated more than 1,300 programs with less than 5% of them meeting the standards for inclusion on their lists of model and promising programs. When considering next steps to address youth violence, Blueprints should serve as the starting point in identifying programs that have the most chance of being effective.
The aforementioned Washington State Institute for Public Policy is another crucial source of information. As stated, they have studied the cost effectiveness of many programs with some being “in the red” due to the likelihood for increased offending, some still in use today. Additionally, they have identified several programs that are shown to be quite cost effective in that they would most likely reduce the cost to taxpayers due to their effectiveness. Not surprisingly, the most cost-effective programs on this list are the same ones identified by Blueprints.
Such changes are often avoided based on the cost of transitions. In evaluating next steps, we need to look beyond the immediate because this is a long-term challenge. To share one example of many, in 2004, Florida began a shift to evidence based practices from their previous services. An independent evaluation by the Justice Research Center showed significant improvements in outcomes at a cost savings. As of 2013, these programs saved Florida taxpayers $170 million while dramatically decreasing recidivism rates. Many other states across the country as well as national governments around the world have made similar shifts and achieved similar results. The question is not if we can afford to implement the most effective programs, but can we afford not to.
The Department of Juvenile Justice should be credited for recognizing the need for change and for taking concrete steps to improve services. As a next step, we should consult known resources for answers on what works and follow the examples of other states that have done so and reduced crime and costs. With resources being scarce, we need to evaluate how we can be the most cost-effective while reaching the goals of the community. The great thing is that the answers are already known.
Patrick M. Duffy, Jr., Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist
www.drpatrickmduffy.com
Author of Parenting Your Delinquent, Defiant, of Out-of-Control Teen
