Posted: Sunday, October 25, 2015 9:45 pm
By LOUIS LLOVIO Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond police and schools are working to start a program that helps students who commit certain crimes stay in classrooms rather than jail cells.
The program, called LIFE, could launch when school restarts after the winter holiday.
LIFE aims to intervene in the lives of young people at moments when things can go terribly wrong for them. Rather than arresting students and dumping them into the juvenile justice system, the diversion program works to get them the skills needed to make better decisions.
The program also could foster a better relationship between young people and the police while changing behaviors and increasing performance in school.
“We’re flipping the script, if you will, in how we’re going to deal with our youth,” Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham said last week. “What we want to do is divert before we place charges.”
Students who commit certain crimes, including larceny, minor vandalism and possession of stolen property, will be eligible to apply for a spot once the program begins. (Those who commit major felonies, including firearm offenses, assaults on faculty and sexual assaults, will still be prosecuted.)
A student who is accepted but doesn’t complete the nine-week program still may be charged for the original offense.
***
The seeds for LIFE were planted this year when a report detailed the number of students who fall into the juvenile justice system when they get into trouble, Durham said.
According to a national analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, more students are referred to the police and court systems in Virginia than in any other state.
The Washington-based nonprofit group found that 15.8 of every 1,000 Virginia students were sent to some part of the criminal justice system during the 2011-12 school year. That was 1.2 students more than Delaware, which was second, and 3.5 students more than Florida, which ranked third.
Researching the issue locally, Durham found that Richmond police arrested 149 students last year. What he found jarring, though, was that of those arrests, 59 were for disorderly conduct for behaviors such as not sitting down in class or using profanity toward a teacher.
That meant students were going to jail for behavior that could be fixed.
“We found that unacceptable,” Durham said.
He then approached Dana T. Bedden, superintendent of Richmond schools, to discuss the issue and start working on ways to plug what is often called the school-to-prison pipeline.
“We brought our teams together (to talk about) how we reduce the number of our youth who are in our schools being introduced to the juvenile justice system,” Durham said.
***
The LIFE program will be open to students ages 13 to 19 who have shown a propensity to act in ways that could lead to arrests.
Students will attend after-school classes once a week for nine weeks. The 90-minute sessions will cover topics including conflict resolution, drug and alcohol awareness, gangs and respect for self and others.
Police officials and school administrators are looking to reach “those individuals we believe we can interact with and change behavior,” said Richmond police Acting Deputy Chief Steve Drew.
One of the most important components of the LIFE program is parental involvement, he said. Students have a better chance of improving their behavior if parents play a role in early intervention, and for that reason, parents are expected to attend three of the nine classes.
***
Diversion programs, while well-intentioned, have had mixed results, according to the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The office, a division of the Justice Department, says early studies into the programs found little impact, with some research finding increased recidivism. But more recent studies have indicated better results, according to a 2010 report by the office.
A look at a program in Michigan found that young people assigned to “one of the several treatment strategy groups were significantly less likely to have had a court petition filed during the two years following the end of the program,” the report said.
“The results suggested that active hands-on intervention of several kinds works better than normal court processing of juvenile offenders, but only if they were thoroughly separated from the system.”
***
The LIFE program still is being assembled. There are some agreements that need to be signed, court officials and parents need to be notified, and the classes need to be scheduled. Officials also are working on completing the funding for the program.
Bedden, along with Durham and Drew, presented a draft of the LIFE program at last week’s Richmond School Board meeting. Bedden said local judges have seen the presentation and that City Council eventually will be briefed.
“The chief’s approach is that this has to be done. We believe it has to be done,” Bedden said.
“Hopefully we’ll get off to a good start and build a sustainable model that makes a difference,” he added. “Right now it’s all hands on deck just pitching in to get this going.”
[email protected]
(804) 649-6348
Twitter: @LouisLLovio
By LOUIS LLOVIO Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond police and schools are working to start a program that helps students who commit certain crimes stay in classrooms rather than jail cells.
The program, called LIFE, could launch when school restarts after the winter holiday.
LIFE aims to intervene in the lives of young people at moments when things can go terribly wrong for them. Rather than arresting students and dumping them into the juvenile justice system, the diversion program works to get them the skills needed to make better decisions.
The program also could foster a better relationship between young people and the police while changing behaviors and increasing performance in school.
“We’re flipping the script, if you will, in how we’re going to deal with our youth,” Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham said last week. “What we want to do is divert before we place charges.”
Students who commit certain crimes, including larceny, minor vandalism and possession of stolen property, will be eligible to apply for a spot once the program begins. (Those who commit major felonies, including firearm offenses, assaults on faculty and sexual assaults, will still be prosecuted.)
A student who is accepted but doesn’t complete the nine-week program still may be charged for the original offense.
***
The seeds for LIFE were planted this year when a report detailed the number of students who fall into the juvenile justice system when they get into trouble, Durham said.
According to a national analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, more students are referred to the police and court systems in Virginia than in any other state.
The Washington-based nonprofit group found that 15.8 of every 1,000 Virginia students were sent to some part of the criminal justice system during the 2011-12 school year. That was 1.2 students more than Delaware, which was second, and 3.5 students more than Florida, which ranked third.
Researching the issue locally, Durham found that Richmond police arrested 149 students last year. What he found jarring, though, was that of those arrests, 59 were for disorderly conduct for behaviors such as not sitting down in class or using profanity toward a teacher.
That meant students were going to jail for behavior that could be fixed.
“We found that unacceptable,” Durham said.
He then approached Dana T. Bedden, superintendent of Richmond schools, to discuss the issue and start working on ways to plug what is often called the school-to-prison pipeline.
“We brought our teams together (to talk about) how we reduce the number of our youth who are in our schools being introduced to the juvenile justice system,” Durham said.
***
The LIFE program will be open to students ages 13 to 19 who have shown a propensity to act in ways that could lead to arrests.
Students will attend after-school classes once a week for nine weeks. The 90-minute sessions will cover topics including conflict resolution, drug and alcohol awareness, gangs and respect for self and others.
Police officials and school administrators are looking to reach “those individuals we believe we can interact with and change behavior,” said Richmond police Acting Deputy Chief Steve Drew.
One of the most important components of the LIFE program is parental involvement, he said. Students have a better chance of improving their behavior if parents play a role in early intervention, and for that reason, parents are expected to attend three of the nine classes.
***
Diversion programs, while well-intentioned, have had mixed results, according to the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The office, a division of the Justice Department, says early studies into the programs found little impact, with some research finding increased recidivism. But more recent studies have indicated better results, according to a 2010 report by the office.
A look at a program in Michigan found that young people assigned to “one of the several treatment strategy groups were significantly less likely to have had a court petition filed during the two years following the end of the program,” the report said.
“The results suggested that active hands-on intervention of several kinds works better than normal court processing of juvenile offenders, but only if they were thoroughly separated from the system.”
***
The LIFE program still is being assembled. There are some agreements that need to be signed, court officials and parents need to be notified, and the classes need to be scheduled. Officials also are working on completing the funding for the program.
Bedden, along with Durham and Drew, presented a draft of the LIFE program at last week’s Richmond School Board meeting. Bedden said local judges have seen the presentation and that City Council eventually will be briefed.
“The chief’s approach is that this has to be done. We believe it has to be done,” Bedden said.
“Hopefully we’ll get off to a good start and build a sustainable model that makes a difference,” he added. “Right now it’s all hands on deck just pitching in to get this going.”
[email protected]
(804) 649-6348
Twitter: @LouisLLovio