Juvenile Justice ( News & Observer)
A coalition of child advocacy groups wants Gov. Beverly Perdue to alter her government reorganization plans so that the agency that deals with kids in trouble be sent to a department geared toward social services rather than one associated with criminal punishment. As part of a large-scale reorganization proposal, Perdue wants to shift the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention into an enlarged Department of Public Safety, which includes the Department of Corrections. The advocacy groups is asking the governor to consider merging juvenile justice with the Department of Health and Human Services, where other child services in the state reside.
“We know the consolidation proposal is an attempt to cut costs only,” said Karen McLeod, president and CEO of the Children and Family Services Association of North Carolina. “The good policy behind the creation of a separate department for juveniles is not in question.” McLeod noted that juvenile justice department had been successful in working to lower juvenile crime and that the number of commitments to Youth Development Centers had fallen from 1,300 in 1998 to less than 400 in 2009. The groups pushing for the change are Action for Children North Carolina, the Children and Family Services Association of North Carolina, the Covenant with North Carolina’s Children, Disability Rights NC and the American Civil Liberties Union.(12/23/10).
