The National Center for Youth Law and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency released a report todayreleased a report today detailing efforts to transform the juvenile justice system in Arkansas. The gist? Efforts by government officials, advocates, judges, service providers, youth, and their families have reduced the state's reliance on secure confinement for children in the juvenile justice system. Community-based alternatives, the report says, are "more effective and less costly."

From the NCCD press release:

Over the past four years, leaders in Arkansas have engaged in a deliberate plan to reform the state's juvenile justice system. Reforms underway are based on best-practice principles developed through research and practical experience. Reform initiatives recognize that it is more effective and less costly to provide youth in trouble who do not pose an immediate or significant threat to public safety with quality community-based programs and supports rather than taking them away from home and placing them in secure confinement.  

The report begins with a letter from Gov. Mike Beebe. The governor says one of his most important goals has been to implement policies that provide safe and effective community-based alternatives to secure confinement.

"I am committed to reforming our juvenile justice system by reducing our state's reliance on incarceration," Beebe wrote in the letter.

AACF Senior Policy Analyst Paul Kelly says Arkansas is headed in the right direction.

"Arkansas is well on its way to becoming a national leader in juvenile justice after years of work to reconcile its past," Kelly says. "We are creating a rational approach to youthful offenders that holds the youth accountable and provides the drug treatment, education, and family support they need, which will improve public safety, reduce recidivism, and restore the youth's chance for future success. This is what the system was designed to do."

Although the state has made significant reforms, more action is needed. Authors of the report offer suggestions for future policy changes to reduce the use of secure confinement.

"In recent years, significant progress has been made in reforming the Arkansas juvenile justice system," says Pat Arthur, co-author of the report. "Arkansas deserves a great deal of recognition for its commitment to improving youth services and for its reduced reliance on secure confinement. The scenarios offered in this report highlight for consideration by leaders and policymakers in Arkansas additional ways in which the use of secure custody beds might be further reduced, as well as the corresponding cost savings that could be reinvested in alternative community-based services. These forecasts serve as a model for other states that wish to improve their youth justice systems."