Counties continue to face tough budget decisions in the current economic environment. Funds are scarce at the same time that demand for services has increased. Homeless shelters are filled to capacity, while jails and juvenile detention facilities are seeing upswings in their populations.
One way counties can save money in the current economic environment is by taking a look at costly county systems to determine their return on investment.
For instance, counties spend vast amounts on corrections. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, county governments spent more than $20 billion on corrections from 2006–2007.
The economic crisis presents an opportunity for counties to re-evaluate their investment strategies in order to make smart juvenile and criminal justice decisions that save money, increase public safety and represent a chance for improved outcomes for people involved in these systems.
The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) of the Annie E. Casey Foundation is one reform strategy many localities employ to increase the efficiency and fairness of juvenile justice systems. They are able to save funds and avoid costs utilizing JDAI’s eight core strategies.
According to Two Decades of JDAI: A Progress Report (2009) from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 27 JDAI sites have been able to close detention units and even entire facilities as a result of decreased detention populations. This produces taxpayer savings by eradicating the need for new construction or expansion of detention facilities.
Cook County, Ill. saved millions of taxpayer dollars by avoiding the construction of a new 200-bed detention facility. Bernalillo County, N.M. closed two wings of a detention facility and was able to move staff to new detention alternative programs.
The success of reducing youth detention populations and saving money is not at the expense of public safety. In the three model sites of Bernalillo, Multnomah (Ore.) and Santa Cruz (Calif.) counties, youth crime rates have dropped since the counties began implementing JDAI’s policy alternatives. This decline in youth violence exceeded the nation as a whole for the same time period.
With detention costs at more than $1 billion per year, alternatives to current youth detention policies and management practices are essential for counties.
NACo has enjoyed a long relationship with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and continues to partner to provide information to counties regarding these alternatives. Counties can benefit in these tough times from re-evaluating budgets and making investments in youth detention reform policies such as the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative that will save money for future reinvestment.