Juvenile offenders may be sentenced to clean up their own graffiti, if the Community Corrections department can find enough money to finance a dollar-for-dollar grant.
The Fifth Judicial District could receive $18,120 as its share of $1 million in state funds. The deadline for application is Dec. 15, according to Robert Sullivan, director of Community Corrections.
Sullivan had asked advisory board members to suggest programs that might be viable to present in the grant application.
Board member Gary Smith, chief of the Emporia Police Department, was the only member who responded, Sullivan said.
Smith suggested the juvenile offenders be ordered to do community service as part of their sentencings.
“What we would do is target graffiti and minor criminal damage done by minors,” Sullivan said.
The juvenile would work with off-duty Emporia police officers or college students who would be hired to supervise.
Money from the initial six-month grant would be used to purchase a power washer, perhaps a trailer, and to pay supervisory manpower. EPD Community Service Officer Brendy Allison would help coordinate the project. The grant also would be valid for the subsequent full year.
Sullivan said that sheriff’s officers and court service workers could not be hired because, as county workers, they would have to be paid overtime to work in the program.
Deputy Chief Mike Williams, representing Smith, said that more than 80 instances of graffiti had been identified around the city, including the bike park, bridges and buildings.
“But it also encompasses a lot of private property throughout the city,” he said, mentioning several businesses that have been targets for graffiti.
“It’s a blight and certainly we want to go forward with this thing,” Williams said.
After the board approved the program, Sullivan said he would work on details and ask the Lyon County Commission to provide the dollar-match for the grant.
District Judge Lee Fowler, a member of the advisory board, spoke in support of the community service project.
“I think, on behalf of the judges, we would very much encourage the project,” Fowler said. “... We’d love to see you do it.”
Fowler said that Morris County has a similar project for court-ordered community service that identifies the offenders’ work vests as “community service worker.”
Board member Alfredo Montalvo, of Emporia State University, suggested the project would need a training aspect, too, to ensure that the youngsters understand why the graffiti and criminal damage is not good for the community.
Community Corrections now is waiting for the final draft of the comprehensive plan developed by consultant John Paul Wright, Ph.D., of the University of Cincinnati.
Wright’s earlier draft of the plan suggested that low-risk juvenile offenders receive less scrutiny and more emphasis be placed on higher-risk offenders.
Wright said that more money needed to be used to target multiple-high-risk offenders and their families, Sullivan said.
He asked the board to seriously consider using a more proportionate amount to target those estimated 25 to 30 multi-problem, high-risk families.
“Some kids need to be placed out of home,” he said. “That’s just a fact.”
When they return home, however, they return to the same environments that contributed to their problems.
Sullivan suggested they look at model programs where counselors visit the families in-home. The counselors would be on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They would provide immediate response and help parents, for example, in providing consistent, appropriate discipline and other parenting skills.
“Those skills can help the entire family,” Sullivan said.
He asked the board to recommend funding priorities by the November board meeting.
Sullivan told the board that members had been invited to present a breakout session during the Governor’s Conference on Juvenile Justice next year in Wichita. The topic was to be the board’s involvement in the new comprehensive plan.
No one volunteered to make the presentation.
The board approved using a $24,000 carryover from the previous fiscal year to help purchase a 2009 Chevrolet Impala and to help pay for Spanish interpreters.
Sullivan said that the two cars currently in use each have more than 100,000 miles on their odometers.
“Juvenile programs use the cars far more than any other program,” he said.
The board will ask the Lyon County Commission to appoint a task force to study the disproportionate number of minority offenders that are handled by the justice system here.
Fowler said that data available may be skewed because of multiple offenses by a single juvenile.
“I’ve got a couple of juvenile offenders that have seven, eight cases,” Fowler said.
The task force will be composed of community corrections and law enforcement officers, representatives of ESU, and leaders from the black and Hispanic communities.
USNretired (anonymous) says...
Hire CSL. They can teach them how to do a good cleaning job.
October 15, 2008 at 7:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
CSL?
October 15, 2008 at 7:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LifeGoesOn (anonymous) says...
a power washer and trailer? give me a break, give them a scrub brush and some soapy water, why make it fun and easy for them by suppling a power washer.
October 18, 2008 at 9:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )