DJJ TRANSFER PRACTICES: HIGH $ COST TO TAXPAYERS; HIGH EMOTIONAL COST TO JUVENILES

The Orlando Sentinel published an article today after completing a six month investigation of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and it's practice of transfering juvenile offenders from one program to another, often multiple times. This practice often can strech the amount of time an offender can remain in state custody months or even years longer than originally intended by the judge.

Most of the transfers are requested by private providers, which runs nearly 90 percent of the juvenile justice residential system. The transfers cost us millions annually, as when an offender is transferred from one program to another, he/she has to start from scratch. For instance, if a kid is sentenced to a four months program, and he/she is transferred for whatever reason after three months, when he/she goes to the new program the four month clock starts all over again, with no credit for the time already served!

Check out the entire article, as it is truly enlightning.