The" Missouri Plan" for juvenile offenders! (Rich Hill: 2009, crime)

[Versatile]

Teen offenders find a future in Missouri - CNN.com


I had no knowledge of this until now.

[christina0001]

Wow, that is outstanding. I had no idea either.

[DinsdalePirahna]

I've heard of these in other states. They are great ideas on so many levels.

Success boils down to essentially two factors. A caring, committed staff that is there for more than a weekly paycheck and a motivated "student" body.

[gossi1]

So Missouri is finally correcting some of their hillbilly, corrupt ways? Doubtful. When my son was 17, he went to Missouri to be near his dad(my ex husband). While there, he got in some minor trouble. While sitting in the Newton County jail(adult jail), he asked for medical care because something was "not right". This medical care was denied, turned out he had a raging kidney infection that got so bad he has permanent kidney damage. He was in jail for some little crap charge that didn't come to anything, but these hillbilly *******s deny him medical care for days while this trumped up charge got sorted out. The kid knows me too well; he didn't tell me anything about this until this year. He is now 28. Some heads would have rolled over this if I had known about it. Somehow, I don't think the MO Dept of Justice has managed to develop caring, competent staff. More likely they continue to be corrupt, incompetent abusers of power.

[MyTownInfo]

Missouri DOES have a great juvenile program and Rich Hill, Missouri offers one of the best facilities anywhere. The staff is incredible and the results are also incredible. I, personally, have been involved with a community liaison council that provides activities and gifts at Christmas time for the boys who are committed to the facility. Everyone of those boys are grateful and amazed that someone cares for and about them. Many of the boys who have been residents at that facility have gone on to be a success in their lives after being exposed to this program.

[christina0001]

ABC is running a TV special about it right now. Very interesting so far.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by gossi1

So Missouri is finally correcting some of their hillbilly, corrupt ways? Doubtful. When my son was 17, he went to Missouri to be near his dad(my ex husband). While there, he got in some minor trouble. While sitting in the Newton County jail(adult jail), he asked for medical care because something was "not right". This medical care was denied, turned out he had a raging kidney infection that got so bad he has permanent kidney damage. He was in jail for some little crap charge that didn't come to anything, but these hillbilly *******s deny him medical care for days while this trumped up charge got sorted out. The kid knows me too well; he didn't tell me anything about this until this year. He is now 28. Some heads would have rolled over this if I had known about it. Somehow, I don't think the MO Dept of Justice has managed to develop caring, competent staff. More likely they continue to be corrupt, incompetent abusers of power.

Could be worse. Your kid could have wound up in Pennsyltucky's Juvenile offender program:

Pa. judges accused of jailing kids for cash - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

It seems like small town cops and legal systems have in it for the kids they brand as trouble makers (they are usually just the non-conformists)

[cyrano]

Originally Posted by gossi1

Somehow, I don't think the MO Dept of Justice has managed to develop caring, competent staff. More likely they continue to be corrupt, incompetent abusers of power.

With all respect, you'd be wrong. I'm sorry that your son had a terrible experience and it's a shame that it wasn't brought to light earlier so that something could be done about it. It also isn't typical. I wasn't born here and I cringe at some of the backwards-type things I see, but juvenile justice isn't one of them. Whether by design or good luck, about 10 or so years ago, a group of juvenile officers, judges, and lawyers started working on what I'd call a tough-love approach to turning these kids' lives around before they were lost for good to the adult criminal justice system. I moved to Missouri, in part, to work with them in creating the manual for juvenile officers (which might blow my cover to those few who know about its creation, but never mind). Good ideas DO come from Missouri. This is one of them-- the Missouri Plan for choosing judges is another (even if it needs tweaking, based on how the Missouri Bar behaved under former Governor Blunt).