Officials: Rock County risking public safety to reduce juvenile detainees
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Janesville Police Chief Dave Moore takes his three minutes at the podium to point out problems that could arise should the Rock County Juvenile Detention Center be closed. A public hearing was held Wednesday at the Rock County Job Center to discuss a proposal to close the center to save the county money.
JANESVILLE — The Rock County Juvenile Detention Center has been ordered to deny the lockup of dangerous kids to reduce its daily population and make the case for closing the facility, officials said Wednesday.
The practice could be a risk to public safety, said Ryan Booth, juvenile detention center union supervisor.
Juvenile probation supervisors also have been ordered to dismiss or “no action” referrals from law enforcement to reduce the caseload, said Kathleen Lichtfuss, former superintendent of the detention center.
“If you limit the number of referrals to the facility, you can make the argument that it’s not needed,” she said. “The bottom line is money.”
Rock County Human Services will provide an option of closing or partially closing the detention center in 2010 to save up to $400,000 in a tight budget.
A public hearing was held Wednesday at the Job Center, and about a dozen people spoke in favor of keeping the facility open.
Booth, who works in the detention center, said reducing staff, furloughs and other measures could be taken to save money.
Housing juveniles in Rock County from other counties also could bring in revenue, but kids have been denied entrance in the past, even though beds are available, Booth said.
Detention officers are role models to juveniles, he said, and kids need the facility to get turned around.
Parents also wouldn’t be able to visit their children if they’re housed elsewhere, Booth said.
Other issues such as attorney interviews, police interviews and medication delivery would be difficult with juveniles housed outside the county, he said.
Dave Moore, Janesville police chief, said closing the detention center could compromise public safety.
Officers could be tied up while holding or transporting juveniles, he said. They also would have to travel to interview juveniles.
The result would be less time for officers to patrol the streets, Moore said.
David O’Leary, Rock County district attorney, said juveniles could fall through the cracks without the detention center.
Juvenile offenders need education, treatment and a safe environment, he said.
The hassles of not having a local facility also might result in fewer referrals because of the cost and time, O’Leary said.
If more kids are released, it could be unsafe, he said.
The detention center’s average daily population has been reduced to 19 inmates per day through July, compared to 29 inmates per day during the same time in 2008.
If the detention center closed, the county would rent beds in other counties.
A secure transport company would be hired to move the juveniles.
Thirty employees work in the detention center, located near the Rock County Jail on Janesville’s north side at highways 14 and 51.
If only the secure side closed, about 15 people would be laid off. About 27 people would be laid off if the entire building closed.
Aug 16, 2009 at 4:48 p.m.
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biggirl, the unions that need to be questionned are the ones that prevent community service workers to do the union jobs...then perhaps we wouldn't need more jails. People will discover that they have to work whether they are living out in the world with freedoms or if they are sentenced to a jail cell. The lesson we should be teaching the criminals, in addition to other lessons, of course, is that "nobody gets a free ride". Get rid of the TVs in jail (or at least cable). Require life coaching classes (like anger management, setting priorities, managing stress, establishing personal values and life goal-planning). And if they are not explored early enough, we will just pay the taxes to house them in the adult jail system. To RCSO's credit, I think they started a good thing a few years ago by not letting the inmates back into their cells after breakfast to sleep all day, but that's simply not enough! There NEEDS to be a severe enough consequence to bad behavior or it will never stop happening!
People, by nature, are selfish, but morals and personal values need to be a part of daily life, too!
Aug 14, 2009 at 2:10 p.m.
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Atta girl, ladystardust. Thanks for your success story!
Aug 14, 2009 at 2:09 p.m.
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Anything that Rock County officials become mixed up in solely on the assumption that it will save money is guaranteed to become convoluted, dysfunctional, and more costly in the long run. They have intentionally lied about and misrepresented every project -- the courthouse renovation, the jail upgrade, the switch to jail diversion and home monitoring, the efficacy of that idiot feel-good program RECAP, the closures of the health care center, detox, and the psych unit. In the end these decisions have provided less service and significantly tied up more local law enforcement resources with worse (or NO) results. They'll spend a million dollars to save $600,000 (do the cost-benefit analysis math on jail diversion to find out).
Do not believe a word that Craig Knutson and his co-conspirator simpleton members of this clubby little county board are spewing -- if they're lips are moving, they're likely to be ... misrepresenting the truth!
Aug 14, 2009 at 1:57 p.m.
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I say just shoot the little ba$tard$, that'll solve the problem...... Parents don't want to be parents, The kids want to be thugs, just wait 'til one of them kills one of your family members.
Aug 14, 2009 at 1:53 p.m.
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These unions -- that is, correctional officer unions -- are very dangerous to our society. They keep lobbying for more and more detention centers, prisons, jails, etc. and for more and more people to be incarcerated. We're now incarcerating 1 out of 100 people, and we have the highest incarceration rate of the entire world. (The increase in incarceration has continued despite plummetting in violent crime.)
Aug 14, 2009 at 1:41 p.m.
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ladystardust; my hats off to you - you are a success of the system. My thoughts exactly with a personal touch. Thank you for your support in this.
Aug 14, 2009 at 1:19 p.m.
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As a juvenile I was caught up in the system, started with truancy, probation and wound up in critical thinking class, criminal thinking class, seeing a counselor twice a week, community service at kandu and salvation army. Every time I was late to school, caught skipping, caught talking to another kid on probation, had a dirty ua, had tobacco on me, a lighter, every time I had a fight with a teacher, they sent me to juvee. Guess what, being in juvee sucked but I just kept going back, and back and back and back again. As soon as I was out I went straight back to my old ways. I shared cells with kids who stole cars,guns, money and beat up their moms, making me seem like any mother's dream compared to them.
The only thing that got me onto the right path was anger management class, critical thinking class and being transferred to Rock River Charter School. That school changed my life for the better. I can say from experience yes it does suck being threatened with Juvee for breaking the rules and it sucks even more to spend the entire summer there, but there are kids out there who really don't belong there all they need is someone to listen, give them alternatives and encourage them to improve themselves. They could make some sort of system out of delinquents being referred to alternative schools, to take anger management classes and then use the detention center as a last resort. Instead of spending on a "bike tunnel" or a "trail bridge" or a better ice arena or a museum, keep the center open. Make some programs where kids have to do community service to improve the gardens by the jail, to clean litter off the streets, mow lawns of foreclosed properties, clean and maintain parks (there's so many to choose from) when fall comes to rake up leaves, in the winter, to shovel. If there is nothing left for them to do they could always be forced to volunteer at Salvation Army, Kandu, and small local businesses like I had to do. Offer classes at high schools for how to handle anger, (anger management class, critical thinking class) how to change your way of thinking, how to accept responsibility for your actions. Show the kids they can be productive and encourage them positively and if there's room put them in alternative education. So many kids on probation are there because they can't handle school like other kids and it's interesting to know the schools cut back on their budgets and now the problem kids are increasingly lost in the shuffle.
Aug 14, 2009 at 10:23 a.m.
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This comment is not meant to "take away" jobs but rather SAVE a NEEDED social service in our community. That being said - there are line items in the budget - both county & city that could be shifted - let these kids help burden the cost & be productive.
Park clean up - trash, leaves, sticks,etc.
grafity removal
public sidewalk snow removal
washing of county vehicles
washing of city buses
I'm sure there are many more but I dont happen to have a line by line list of the city & county budgets.
This has to be worth the 400k they need to keep open....this benefits all of us (including the kids)and saves money.
Then, if expanded to do some things that are not in the budget like a little landscaping and clean up of neglected areas in this town, maybe just maybe we could attract some new business' to our area. Think about it, what do you do before you sell a car? polish it up right, well we need to "sell" this community to business' & work together on solutions to get this city back to where we all want it to be - prosporous & growing. This all begins with the kids - yes, even the one's who have landed themselves in the RCJD.
Aug 14, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.
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Rent it out to tenants from other counties. Makes sense to me!
Aug 14, 2009 at 9:28 a.m.
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"The practice could be a risk to public safety" . . No s***!!??? That's a revalation!
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Everybody keeps asking, WHO??? What "officials"?? I want to know, too.
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The Gazette today says that Human Services is denying allegations it was them. Hmm.
Aug 14, 2009 at 8:42 a.m.
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Who thought of this brilliant idea? The same guy who thought up the idea of not plowing snow on side streets? (Yes I know its not the same guy). Amazing the amount of idiotic ideas government officials come up with when they think nobody is watching. All this to save $400,000. I'll hazard a guess that if you went through the county budget line by line you'd find at least $400,000 in non essential, if not wasteful spending. It's high time government figure out that they have to budget like the rest of us "subjects". In other words your highest priorities come first and feel good pet projects come last and if there's no money left for them they don't get bought, period.
Aug 13, 2009 at 9:17 p.m.
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Yes, we should find out who is responsible and if this goes through, they should be removed from their position. Closing the facility is an ignorant idea and would lead to more costs and problems to communities throughout Rock County. This would be a slap in the face to the hard working police and victims.
Aug 13, 2009 at 9 p.m.
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I deal with some of this population. NOT A GOOD IDEA! With no threat of the detention center we are all in trouble!
Aug 13, 2009 at 6:12 p.m.
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mommroqs73: It would also be helpful if parents WOULD be parents instead of trying to be their kids' friends and demanding that the cops do the parenting.
The article talks about private companies being hired for transport: What does that mean? Right now, other jursidictions use the RCJRC and are charged accordingly. When the JRC is full, officers have to transport to (often far away) other centers. Does this mean that RCJRC would accept the suspects and then they (RCJRC) would arrange for transport?
I recall working for a VERY small PD, and having to transport a juvenile to LaCrosse. And, you have to have two people for the transport. That used up two of three full time officers!
This is a mistake, folks. I agree that someone needs to find out who gave the orders to intentionally depress the numbers in order to create a fals sense of lack-of-need!
Back to mommaroqs: You seem to be intimating that parents' hands are somehow tied as far as controlling their kids. Specifics, please?
Aug 13, 2009 at 6:01 p.m.
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The county already made a HUGE mistake by closing the health care center! Dont make another mistake that will compromise safety of the citizens in this county!
Aug 13, 2009 at 6 p.m.
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THIS IS THE DUMBEST IDEA EVER!! So now officers who are suppose to be patroling the streets are stuck babysitting the little trouble makers instead of being out and about in the community. What a waste of time, money and resources!! BAD BAD BAD IDEA ROCK COUNTY!!
Aug 13, 2009 at 5:55 p.m.
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The beginning of this article says it all! Mess with the numbers to fool the public into thinking the detention center is not needed. I would like to Know the name of the public official that gave the order to stop holding juvenile offenders to make it look like there is not a need or to appear crime is down!
Aug 13, 2009 at 5:41 p.m.
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BIG mistake if you close the detention center!
Aug 13, 2009 at 5:39 p.m.
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I have an idea how about letting us parents be parents rather than forcing us to run to the police or cps to take care of our children. I can guarantee the juvinile det.center will be alot less populated if the system actually allows us parent to be parents to our children, unless it comes down to a danger physically to the envirnment to ppl.
Aug 13, 2009 at 5:20 p.m.
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You think it is bad now wait til it offically closes and then maybe we should ship the juveniles to the counties that they live in or drop them off on their doorstep.
Aug 13, 2009 at 4:48 p.m.
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That's just great! My neighborhood is full of hoodlums now as it is!! good to see the ones that need to be locked up are getting out! Is this why we pay taxes!!!!!! This is ridiculous!!!!
Aug 13, 2009 at 4:43 p.m.
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30 employees to look after 19 kids?
Who ordered it?
Thanks for the update Gazette (I complained earlier)
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